Meade Instruments
Meade Instruments offers telescopes and accessories for serious amateur astronomers. Founded in 1972 and headquartered in Irvine, California, the company sells through e-commerce to hobbyist consumers in the consumer optics niche.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1908
- HeadquartersIrvine, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Meade Instruments does
Meade Instruments is a specialty consumer optics company that historically offered a broad range of telescopes and telescope accessories for serious amateur astronomers. Founded in 1972 by John C. Diebel and headquartered in Irvine, California, the company built its identity in the enthusiast astronomy segment. It was publicly traded on NASDAQ under the ticker MEAD before being delisted, and currently operates with 51-100 employees.
The company pursued a growth-via-acquisition strategy in its earlier public years, acquiring Coronado Technology Group in October 2004 (solar telescope technology) and Simmons Outdoor Corp in October 2002 (outdoor/optics products), which expanded its product portfolio beyond core telescope offerings into adjacent optics and outdoor consumer segments. Today, the firm maintains an e-commerce presence at meade.com positioning itself as a provider of telescope accessories and parts for the amateur astronomy market.
A data-integrity caveat applies: a portion of the source material contains detailed company profile data describing a different entity — a construction and maintenance services firm called "Meade Inc." founded in 1908 in Illinois — that appears to have been misattributed to Meade Instruments in this dataset. The telescope-company identity is supported by the firmographics description, the named founder (John C. Diebel), and the optics-related acquisitions (Coronado Technology Group, Simmons Outdoor Corp).
Meade Instruments firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Meade Instruments
- Legal name
- Meade Inc.
- Website
- https://meade.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1908
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Meade Instruments offers telescopes and accessories for serious amateur astronomers. Founded in 1972 and headquartered in Irvine, California, the company sells through e-commerce to hobbyist consumers in the consumer optics niche.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Meade Instruments industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Construction & Maintenance Services
- NAICS
- Utility System Construction (2371)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Storm Restoration & Emergency Response (Distribution) (EUAEACAJ)
Keywords
Where Meade Instruments is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Irvine
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
Meade Instruments business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales
Meade Instruments product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Meade Inc. delivers safety, quality, and performance-focused construction and maintenance services to government bodies and private agencies across local, state, and national levels. The company operates a unified service portfolio covering Engineering Services, Fleet Management (overseeing over 3,500 pieces of equipment via GPS), and Project Controls (tracking and scheduling projects from bid to completion), complemented by 24/7 Emergency Response capabilities for transportation dispatch and utility storm restoration.
Product overview
Meade Inc. operates as a safety, quality, and performance-focused construction and maintenance services company serving various industrial and commercial markets. The company offers a unified service portfolio consisting of three core service offerings: Engineering Services (providing design and engineering solutions), Fleet Management (managing over 3,500 pieces of equipment with GPS tracking and 24/7 support), and Project Controls (tracking and scheduling projects from bid to completion). The company also provides 24/7 Emergency Response capabilities for transportation dispatch and utility storm restoration.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Engineering Services
Companies that use Meade Instruments
Customer profileIdeal customer profiles1 record
Meade Instruments technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Meade Instruments partnerships and signals
Strategic signalRecent moves3 records
Expansion highlights2 records
Meade Instruments competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Quanta Services: Largest pure-play utility infrastructure services firm in North America providing electric, gas, telecom, and renewable energy construction. Directly comparable to Meade's utility construction and storm restoration offerings, though at vastly greater scale and capital base.
- EMCOR Group: Provider of electrical and mechanical construction, facilities, and energy services. Comparable electrical construction capabilities to Meade though with broader facilities and mechanical services, and significantly larger scale.
- MasTec: Major infrastructure construction company serving utility, communications, oil & gas, and clean energy markets. Comparable end-market exposure to Meade with similar utility and pipeline construction capabilities, though at much larger scale.
- Granite Construction: Diversified heavy civil construction company serving transportation, water resources, and federal markets. Overlaps with Meade's transportation infrastructure and government services work, though typically larger project scale.
- Tutor Perini: Major civil, building, and specialty construction contractor. Comparable in heavy civil infrastructure work though typically focused on larger-scale transportation and building projects at national scale.
- Sterling Infrastructure: Infrastructure solutions provider across transportation, water, and building markets. Comparable in diversified construction services with a regional operational profile similar to Meade's Midwest focus.
Direct peers
- MYR Group: Specialty electrical construction services provider focused on transmission, distribution, and commercial/industrial electrical work. Closely mirrors Meade's electrical utility construction and storm restoration services with similar end-market exposure.
- IES Holdings: Electrical and mechanical contracting services firm serving commercial, industrial, and utility markets. Closely comparable to Meade in electrical infrastructure scope and storm/restoration capabilities, with similar size profile.
- Primoris Services: Infrastructure construction firm serving utilities, energy, and pipeline markets with capabilities across electrical, gas, civil, and renewable energy. Closely overlaps with Meade's diversified market approach and similar mid-cap service profile.
Regional players
- Construction Partners Inc: Civil infrastructure services company focused on highway, heavy civil, and site development, primarily in the Sun Belt. Similar operational model but different geographic focus and infrastructure verticals than Meade.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat2 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Meade Instruments social profiles
Digital presenceMeade Instruments financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Meade Instruments leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Meade Instruments funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Meade Instruments M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A2 records
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Meade Instruments
What does Meade Instruments do?
Meade Inc. delivers safety, quality, and performance-focused construction and maintenance services to government bodies and private agencies across local, state, and national levels. The company operates a unified service portfolio covering Engineering Services, Fleet Management (overseeing over 3,500 pieces of equipment via GPS), and Project Controls (tracking and scheduling projects from bid to completion), complemented by 24/7 Emergency Response capabilities for transportation dispatch and utility storm restoration.
Is Meade Instruments a public or private company?
Meade Instruments is a private company. It is classified as family owned and is currently operating.
When was Meade Instruments founded?
Meade Instruments was founded in 1908. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Meade Instruments based?
Meade Instruments is headquartered in Irvine, United States, in the North America region.
Who are Meade Instruments's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Quanta Services, EMCOR Group, MasTec, Granite Construction, Tutor Perini and Sterling Infrastructure. Direct peers are MYR Group, IES Holdings and Primoris Services. Construction Partners Inc is listed as a regional player.
Does Meade Instruments have an API?
No public API is recorded for Meade Instruments.
What industry is Meade Instruments in?
Meade Instruments's product category is Construction & Maintenance Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EUAEACAJ, Storm Restoration & Emergency Response (Distribution). Its NAICS code is 2371.