Grundig

Grundig (English: GRU(U)N-dig, German pronunciation: [ˈɡʁʊndɪç]) is a home appliances and consumer electronics brand. It is owned by Arçelik A.Ş., the white goods (major appliance) manufacturer of Turkish conglomerate Koç Holding. Originally a German consumer electronics company, Grundig GmbH was founded in 1945 by Max Grundig and was headquartered for the most part in Fürth until its insolvency in 2003. The Grundig company helped fuel the post-war economic miracle of West Germany and it grew to become one of the leading manufacturers in the world of radio, TV, recording and other electronic equipment in the following decades. In the 1970s, Philips began acquiring Grundig's shares, leading to complete control in 1993, but Philips divested Grundig by 1998. Grundig filed for bankruptcy in April 2003 after years of losses and strong competition from cheaper Asian competitors. Most of the former Grundig business was acquired by a Turkish-British joint venture of Beko and Alba in 2004, who relaunched the Grundig brand for consumer electronics as Grundig Intermedia GmbH, whereas Grundig's car radio division was acquired by American company Delphi Corporation. In 2007, Koç Holding (parent company of Beko) acquired full ownership of Grundig and put the brand under its home-appliances subsidiary Arcelik A.Ş. The legacy society was eventually merged with Arçelik's other brand to form Beko Germany GmbH, currently based in Eschborn near Frankfurt, which functions as the German and North European headquarters of Arçelik.

History

Grundig began in 1945 with the establishment of a store named Fürth, Grundig & Wurzer (Radio-Vertrieb Fürth), which sold radios and was headquartered in Fürth, northern Bavaria. After the Second World War, Max Grundig recognized the need for radios in Germany, and in 1947 produced a kit, while a factory and administration centre were built at Fürth. In 1951, the first television sets were manufactured at the new facility. At the time Grundig was the largest radio manufacturer in Europe. Divisions were established in Nuremberg, Frankfurt and Karlsruhe. In 2013, Grundig launched its home appliances (white goods) product range, becoming one of the mainstream manufacturers in Europe. Parent Arcelik A.Ş., has more than 27,000 employees worldwide. Grundig has manufacturing plants in several European cities that deliver their products to more than 65 countries around the world.

1940s Grundig started as a typical German company in 1945. Its early notability was due to Grundig radio. Max Grundig, a radio dealer, built a machine called "Heinzelmann", which was a radio that came without thermionic valves and as a do it yourself kit to circumvent post war rules. The first of the same was named the Weltklang.

1950s Based on the success of the Heinzelmann, Grundig opened a factory. This allowed the company to start Grundig TV. This was created for the first German television channel which started in 1952. The company then developed a portable tape recorder and The Grundig Television Receiver 210. In 1955, the American firm of Wilcox-Gay began importing Grundig radios into the U.S., using its Majestic Radio dealer network to distribute the German company's products. The marketing of "Majestic-Grundig" radios continued until Wilcox-Gay went out of business at the end of 1961. In 1957, Grundig purchased a majority stake in Triumph-Adler as well as in Adlerwerke. In 1958, Grundig acquired both companies outright and merged them and Grundig's dictation machine division to form Triumph-Adler-Büromaschinen-Vertriebs-GmbH.

1960s A plant was opened in 1960 to manufacture tape recorders in Belfast, Northern Ireland, the first production by Grundig outside Germany. The managing director of the plant, Thomas Niedermayer, was kidnapped and later killed by the Provisional IRA in December 1973. The factory was closed with the loss of around 1000 jobs in 1980.

1970s In 1972, Grundig GmbH became Grundig AG. After this Philips began to gradually accumulate shares in the company over the years, and assumed complete economic control in 1993. Grundig pulled out of this partnership in 1998 owing to unsatisfactory performance and the decline in Philips consumer electronics presence around the world.

1980s Germany's first colour television projector was started by Grundig in 1980. The next year, the second generation electronic notepad was developed and marketed. Philips increased its stake in the company and Max Grundig no longer controlled business management in 1984.

1990s In 1991, Grundig entered the telephony equipment market starting with its cordless telephone. In 1993, the Grundig TV was based on a 16:9 picture format for signal transmission. In 1995 and 1996, the company included 3-D sound systems, TVs, satellite receivers and other initiatives that included interactive user guidance. However, Philips divested of its investment in the company by 1997–8.

2000s

At the end of June 2000 Grundig relocated its headquarters in Fürth to Nuremberg-Langwasser. The company had a turnover of €1.281 billion the following year. In autumn 2002, Grundig's banks did not extend the company's lines of credit, leaving the company with an April 2003 deadline to announce insolvency. Grundig AG declared bankruptcy in 2003. In 2004 the UK's Alba plc and the Turkish Koç's Beko jointly took over Grundig Home InterMedia System, Grundig's consumer electronics division. In 2007 Alba sold its half of the business to Koç for US$50.3 million, although it retained the license to use the Grundig brand in the UK until 2010, and in Australasia until 2012. In 2007 Grundig Mobile announced the U900 Linux-based mobile phone. At the end of 2007 Turkey's Koç Holding took full ownership of Grundig Multimedia, the parent company of Grundig Intermedia GmbH in Nuremberg.

2010s The company continued on to produce entertainment electronics, electrical, and home appliances. The company entered the white goods sector in 2013, thus becoming the EU's only consumer electronics company covering the full range. Grundig closed its Nuremberg offices in 2016 in order to share working space with Beko, then headquartered at Neu-Isenburg.

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