Business Description

Unless the context otherwise requires, references in this Annual Report on Form 10-K to “Knowles,” the “Company,” “we,” “our,” or “us” refer to Knowles Corporation and its consolidated subsidiaries. Our Company We are a leading manufacturer of specialty electronic components. We design parts that perform unique, critical functions for innovative technologies. Through extreme reliability, custom engineering, and scalable manufacturing, our high-performance capacitors, radio frequency (“RF”) filters, advanced microphones, and balanced armature speakers enable and enhance the most demanding applications across medtech, defense, industrial, and electrification/energy markets with the power to change, improve, and save lives. Founded in 1946 and headquartered in Itasca, Illinois, Knowles has grown into a global organization with approximately 5,200 employees at facilities located in 11 countries around the world. Our Strategy The Company is focused on leveraging its unique technologies to design custom engineered solutions and then deliver them at scale for customers in high growth markets that value our solutions. In our Precision Devices ("PD") segment, our high-performance capacitors and RF filtering solutions enable some of the most demanding applications in the defense, industrial, medtech, and electrification/energy markets. Our capacitor portfolio includes products with highly specialized requirements including high voltage, high temperature, and high reliability. We also deliver RF filtering solutions across a broad range of applications and frequencies primarily serving the defense market. We continue to focus on sales growth and improved margins by expanding our presence in profitable markets through organic initiatives and acquisitions. In our Medtech & Specialty Audio ("MSA") segment, our primary focus is to deliver high reliability and industry leading balanced armature speakers and microphones to leading hearing health manufacturers and specialty audio markets. We work collaboratively with customers to ensure that our solutions meet their size, broad frequency response, and low power or custom acoustic module requirements. We continue to focus on sales growth and improved margins by leveraging our core strengths in manufacturing and research and development. Our Business Segments We have two