BANG & OLUFSEN BEOVISION 7802 YEAR 1985.

The Beovision 7802 was a stereo version of the Beovision 7702. It was the first stereo Beovision model with a 22” screen.

(1985-1986) 22” colour television, stereo sound (A2 system), 2x15W, remote control, optional teletext (most models), Dual A/V interface (SCART + DIN)

A SCART Connector (which stands for Syndicat des Constructeurs d'Appareils Radiorécepteurs et Téléviseurs) is a standard for connecting audio-visual equipment together. The official standard for SCART is CENELEC document number EN 50049-1. SCART is also known as Péritel (especially in France) and Euroconnector but the name SCART will be used exclusively herein. The standard defines a 21-pin connector (herein after a SCART connector) for carrying analog television signals. Various pieces of equipment may be connected by cables having a plug fitting the SCART connectors. Television apparatuses commonly include one or more SCART connectors.

Although a SCART connector is bidirectional, the present invention is concerned with the use of a SCART connector as an input connector for receiving signals into a television apparatus. A SCART connector can receive input television signals either in an RGB format in which the red, green and blue signals are received on Pins 15, 11 and 7, respectively, or alternatively in an S-Video format in which the luminance (Y) and chroma (C) signals are received on Pins 20 and 15. As a result of the common usage of Pin 15 in accordance with the SCART standard, a SCART connector cannot receive input television signals in an RGB format and in an S-Video format at the same time.

Consequently many commercially available television apparatuses include a separate SCART connectors each dedicated to receive input television signals in one of an RGB format and an S-Video format. This limits the functionality of the SCART connectors. In practical terms, the number of SCART connectors which can be provided on a television apparatus is limited by cost and space considerations. However, different users wish the input a wide range of different combinations of formats of television signals, depending on the equipment they personally own and use. However, the provision of SCART connectors dedicated to input television signals in one of an RGB format and an S-Video format limits the overall connectivity of the television apparatus. Furthermore, for many users the different RGB format and S-Video format are confusing. Some users may not understand or may mistake the format of a television signal being supplied on a given cable from a given piece of equipment. This can result in the supply of input television signals of an inappropriate format for the SCART connector concerned.

This kind of connector is todays obsoleted !

Type numbers: 7007, 7030, 7031, 7032, 7510, 7511, 7530, 7533, 7570, 7577, 7592

Although at the time of its introduction there were no stereo TV broadcasts in the UK, stereo video tapes had become available and the Beocord range offered two new models, the Beocord VHS 80 and VHS 90, to play them. The Beovision 7802, along with the larger but otherwise identical Beovision 8902, were the natural companions to these new machines, especially as the Beovision Video Terminal remote control unit provided with the Beovision could operate the Beocord as well.
The Beovision 7802 used the same 77XX series chassis as the Beovision 7702 and offered identical picture performance.
It was fitted with a 22” 30AX tube which allowed a slim cabinet to be produced, the appearance of which was accentuated by the increased width of the frontage.

The 30AX system, which Philips introduced in 1979, is an important landmark in the development of colour picture systems. With previous systems the assembly technician had to workthrough a large number of complicated setting-up procedures whenever he fitted a television picture tube with aset of coils for deflecting the electron beams. These procedures were necessary to ensure that the beams for the three colours would converge at thescreen for every deflection. They are no longer necessary with the 30AX system: for a given screen format any deflection unit can be combined  with any tube to form a single 'dynamically convergent' unit. A colour-television receiver can thus be assembled from its components almost as easily as a monochrome receiver. The colour picture tube of the PHILIPS 30AX system displays a noticeably sharper picture over the entire screen surface. This will be particularly noticeable when data transmissions such as Viewdata and Teletext are displayed. This has been achieved by a reduction in the size of the beam spot by about 30%. Absence of coma and the retention of the 36.5 mm neck diameter have both contributed to increased picture sharpness. Coma has been eliminated by means of corrective field shapers embedded in the deflection coils which are sectionally wound saddle types. The new deflection unit has no rear flanges. enabling uniform self-convergence to be obtained for all screen sizes. without special corrections, adjustments, or tolerance compensations. Horizontal raster distortion is reduced and no vertical correction is required. One of the inventions in 30AX is an internal magnetic correction system which obviates static convergence and colour purity errors. This enables the usual multiple unit to be dispensed with. together with the need for its adjustment !  New techniques have been employed to achieve close tolerance construction of the glass envelope. In addition, the 30AX picture tube incorporates two features whereby it can be accurately adjusted during the last stages of manufacture. One is the internal magnetic correction system. The other is an array of bosses on the cone that establish a precise reference for the axial purity positioning of the deflection unit on the tube axis and for raster orientation. During its manufacture, each deflection unit is individually adjusted for optimum convergence. The coil carrier also incorporates reference bosses that co-operate with those on the cone of the tube. ' Since every picture tube and every deflection unit is individually pre-aligned, any deflection unit automatically matches with any picture tube of the appropriate size. The deflection unit has only to be pushed onto the neck of the tube unit it seats. Once the reference bosses are engaged, the combination is accurately aligned and requires no adjustment for convergence, colour purity or raster orientation. With no multiple unit and a flangeless deflection unit, there is more space in the receiver cabinet. Higher deflection sensitivity means that less current is consumed, and consequently less heat is produced. This increases the reliability of the TV receiver again. 30AX means simple assembly. Any picture tube is compatible with any deflection unit of the appropriate size and is automatically self-aligning as well as being self-convergent.
The well-known 20AX features of HI-Bri, Soft-Flash and Quick-vision are maintained in the new 30AX systern.  In their work on the design of deflection coils in the last few years the developers have expanded  the magnetic deflectionfields into 'multipoles', This approach has improved the understanding  of the relations between coil and field and between field and deflection to such an extent that  designing deflection units is now more like playing a difficult but fascinating game of chess than  carrying out the obscure computing procedure once necessary.
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The audio system comprised two high quality loudspeaker systems (the woofers of which were housed in resin bass-reflex cabinets held in place by resilient rubber mounts), a 2x15W Hi-Fi stereo amplifier and an A2 stereo decoder (though A2 broadcasts were never radiated in the UK). Stereo AV sources (video tape, video disc, home computer) could be connected directly via either the DIN A/V or the SCART socket (a new feature in the Beovision range). Extra loudspeakers and stereo headphones could also be connected.
A new cabinet finish was offered for the Beovision 7802 (and the 8902): Whiteline. Whiteline went beyond the white cabinet inlays that had been available for Beovisions since the 8800 in as much as now the whole cabinet back was white, as was the Beovision Video Terminal (a special version made for Whiteline sets only). Whiteline models cost more than the standard teak/rosewood ones but they did include a factory fitted teletext decoder.
The Beovision 7802 was deleted from the range when the LX series made its first appearance in 1987. The model which directly replaced it was the LX 2500.

Bang & Olufsen, in the mid-1980s equipped all their luxury Beovision models with an advanced digital tuner that had the capacity for receiving 100 UHF channels, 32 of which could be stored in the set's microcomputer memory for instant recall at the touch of a button.

The real boon for most viewers is that you could locate, store and recall any of these stations without leaving your armchair. All you had to do was to touch a key on the Beovision Video terminal. So although B&O gave their "future-safe" luxury TV range more micro-electronics, more features and more connection possibilities than ever before, they had, at the same time, made all this complex technology even more accessible - instantly. To borrow a phrase from the computer industry, Bang & Olufsen's '02-Series' TVs were "user-friendly" (1983 catalogue).

In 1985, to celebrate Bang & Olufsen's diamond anniversary - 1925 - 1985 - a special edition of Beovision 7802 was released. The television was finished in a dark veneer (ivory-coloured) in place of the standard teak and rosewood finishes.
A small 'emblem' was included on the top right-hand side to commemorate this special occasion.
Beovisions 5502, 7702, 8802 and 9002 all shared the same advanced chassis design and offered the same user-benefits. They were true "luxury" sets because all the features and facilities which, in other brands, were offered as 'extras' were standard in Bang & Olufsen sets.
The Beovision Video Terminal supplied with Beovisions 5502, 7702, 8802 and 9002 offered a plethora of operational benefits. In addition there was also an advanced 'tune and store' function that allowed you to operate the automatic tuning system from the comfort of your chair.
One touch of the 'tune' button started the digital tuner scanning the wavelengths of the UHF band. When it found a station, it stopped - giving you the opportunity to either reject or accept it. If it was an unsatisfactory reception from a distant transmitter you just pressed 'tune' again to continue the search. When you found a station on a channel that offered good, clear reception, you could instruct the set's microcomputer to remember that transmission frequency by pressing 'store' followed by your own choice of pre-set programme number (e.g. for BBC2 you might designate pre-set number 2). Thereafter, whenever you wanted to watch BBC2, you simply touched button '2' on your remote Terminal.
Up to 32 different TV stations could be located and stored in this way, so your Beovision really was 'future-safe' because it had plenty of spare capacity to accommodate new programme sources as and when they came 'on stream'.
This latest type of Beovision Video Terminal also had a button marked 'sound'. This was at that time only effective with Bang & Olufsen stereo TVs - Beovision 7802 and Beovision 8902.

Beovision 7802 Specifications
Types:
7510 (1984 - May 1986)
D, TXT, OSCAR 7030 (1984 - May 1987)
D, TXT, OSCAR 7592 (1984 - Dec 1986)
G 7007 (1984 - Oct 1986)
GB 7530 (1984 - Oct 1986)
GB, TXT 7533 (1984 - Jan 1987)
MULTI 7570 (1984 - Dec 1986)
S, TXT 7511 (1984 - May 1986)
S, TXT, OSCAR 7031 (1984 - May 1987)
S, TXT, OSCAR 7032 (1984 - Feb 1987)
TXT, ANTIOPE, MULTI 7577 (1984 - May 1986)
Picture tube size: 56cm
Cabinet: teak, rosewood veneer, white, black (special edition)
Features: stereo sound, stereo enhancement, bilingual sound
Number of programmes: 32 VHF - UHF
Range: UHF 21 - 69, VHF 2 - 12
or VHF 46.25 - 105.25 MHz and 113.25 - 294.25 MHz
Picture tube: 30 AX 110° in line self converging
Start time: approx. 5 sec
Aerial impedance: 75 ohms coaxial

Speakers, 2 set Log Line system: woofer: 10cm, tweeter: 5 cm
Sound power output: 2 x 14 W/ 8 ohms
Harmonic distortion: < 1 % at 15 W, < 0.5 % at 14 W
Intermodulation: < 1 %
Frequency range: +/- 1.5 dB 30 - 20000 Hz
Power bandwidth: 30 - 50000 Hz
Signal-to-noise ratio: > 55 dB
Bass control: +/-8 dB / 100 Hz
Treble control: +/-9 dB / 10,000 Hz

Power supply: 180 - 265 V
Power consumption: 80 (70 - 160) W
Stand-by: < 2 W
Dimensions W x H x D: 76.5 x 43.5 x 42cm
Weight: 31 kg

Connections: headphones output max. 10.5 V / 200 ohms
External speakers: 8 ohms
Tape output: 600 mV / 1 kohms
Amplifier output: 600 mV / 1 kohms
AC socket, Audio/video IN/OUT DIN 6 pin
Video input: 1 Vpp 75 ohms FBAS
Video output: 1 Vpp 75 ohms
Audio input: 600 mV / 100 kohms
Audio output: 600 mV / 1 kohms


It's an interesting fact that the cathode ray tube, which was amongst the very earliest thermionic devices, seems likely to be amongst the very last in everyday use. Receiving valves are largely things of the past, while timebase valves now belong in the service department. The development of the CRT continues apace however, and one cannot see any likelihood of its demise. Solid-state displays have been talked about, and demonstrated, but anything likely to compete on cost and performance grounds with the modern colour tube seems forever to be "at least ten years away". The early experiments with cathode-ray tubes were carried out in the last century. By the turn of the century, crude CRTs could be made. An early CRT, the Wehnelt hot cathode tube of 1905, is on display at the IBA's Television Gallery. By 1910, Alexander Campbell -Swinton had come to appreciate the possibilities of the CRT as a pick-up and display device for television, and put forward suggestions for such a TV system. It was a while however before the type of tube we know today appeared. The tubes of the 1910-30 era were gas focused devices (relying on residual gas to focus the beam), the vacuum pumps of the period producing only a poor vacuum. By the time of the start of the BBC's TV service in 1936 however the modern type of tube had arrived. It was a triode device with external focusing and a deflection angle of around 50°. The usual sizes were 9 and 12in., and the e.h.t. was about 5kV. Post-war developments during the 1950s saw some important innovations. The deflection angle went to 70°, then 90°, then 110°; multi -electrode gun assemblies with electrostatic focusing were introduced; the e.h.t rose to 20kV; improved phosphors became available; and the advent of the aluminised screen considerably improved the brightness and contrast (by reflecting all the phosphor light emission forwards) while overcoming the problem of ion bombardment. Meanwhile, colour had come. The principle of the shadowmask tube had been suggested in the 1930s, but development (by RCA) had to wait until proposals for an acceptable, practical colour broadcasting system were put forward. A regular colour service was started in the USA in 1954, and the receivers were fitted with 21in. shadowmask tubes. Early developments included the use of improved phosphors, but essentially the same tube confronted us with the advent of colour transmissions in Europe in 1967. As you all know, it had three guns mounted in a triangular formation, a dot-phosphor screen, a massive convergence system in two sections (radial and lateral), plus purity magnets and a large metal shield on which the degaussing coils hung. It also needed both NS and EW raster correction circuitry. The first versions in Europe had a deflection angle of 90° : when the 110° version came along in the early 1970s the convergence and raster correction circuitry required were even more complex, but the degaussing shield had disappeared inside the tube. At much the same time however the first major breakthrough in large screen tube design occurred (we put it that way because the innovating Sony Trinitron was at the time mainly a small screen tube) - the RCA PIL tube with its in -line guns, phosphor -striped screen, and slotted shadowmask. The design of the yoke to provide self -convergence in conjunction with the in -line gun arrangement meant that no dynamic convergence system was required, while some simple manufacturer preset magnets provided static convergence and purity correction. Sets using this tube first appeared in Europe in 1975, and meanwhile the PHILIPS 20AX system had come along. Over the last few years the pace of development has quickened to a striking extent. We've had quick warm-up cathodes, the hi-bri technology which increases the shadow mask's transparency, the contoured line screen, the super -arch mask, pigmented phosphors, soft flash to reduce flashover damage, redesigned focus arrangements, and increased use of an earlier development, the black -stripe screen. The latest generation of tubes require no NS raster correction circuitry, which is all part of a parallel development in yoke technology, while the need for EW correction is also in the process of being designed out. With the new Philips 30AX tube, the static convergence and purity system disappear inside the tube in the form of a small internal magnetic ring. It's all a long way from Wehnelt's hot -cathode tube of 1905. The latest colour tubes are compact and have all the various correction arrangements required built in. They are amazing feats of precision engineering, and a solid-state alternative seems as far away as ever. Is there any farther to go along this path? Well, single -gun colour tubes using the beam indexing principle are now understood to be a practical proposition for small screen tubes, so we can't be too sure.


Bang & Olufsen Holding A/S (B&O) is a leading consumer electronics firm, manufacturing a complete line of technologically sophisticated, sleekly-designed hi-fis, speakers, televisions and telephones. The company sells its products in 40 countries through a network of more than 2.000 stores that are partly owned by the company. Renowned for its attention to design and leading-edge technology, the company represents a singular force in the multibillion-dollar consumer electronics industry.

Peter Bang and Svend Olufsen grew up in era of swift technological innovation. Both were born around the time Guglielmo Marconi made his 1901 transmission of long-wave radio signals across the Atlantic Ocean in a historic achievement that set the stage both youths’ experiments with radios. At the age of ten Peter Bang read about the world’s first live radio transmission and Enrico Caruso’s performance at New York’s Metropolitan Opera in 1910. Soon after, he began his first experiments with radio, eventually leading him to pursue an engineering degree at the Electrotechnical School in Århus, Denmark. After earning his degree in 1924, Peter Bang moved to the United States, where the flourishing radio industry had 600 commercial broadcasting stations and so presented fertile ground for exploring his interests. In the USA Peter Bang worked at a service station and at a radio manufacturing plant, but he soon felt entrepreneurial urges again. After six months he returned to Denmark, intent on starting his own business.

Back in Denmark, Svend Olufsen was busy building his own radio. Olufsen also liked to experiment with electricity and chemistry and had attended the Electrotechnical School at the same time as Bang, also earning an engineering degree. Olufsen began his radio experiments at his family’s Quistrup estate, occupying a room in the attic where he started building a mains receiver, a radio that required neither accumulators nor the batteries needed to recharge them. While he was away at boarding school and later at the Electrotechnical School, Bang had written frequently to his father asking for money to pay for more batteries. Bang’s mains receiver would be the prototype upon which Olufsen’s experiments would be based.

At Quistrup, Olufsen’s mains receiver was half finished when Bang returned from the United States. Olufsen needed help, and his former classmate was uniquely qualified to provide it. Bang left Copenhagen and traveled to the countryside in the west to the Olufsens’ Quistrup. There, in the attic that would serve as B&O’s first laboratory, Bang and Olufsen worked together on the mains receiver, a nest of thick copper wire and insulated cables that stretched from one side of the room to the other. The pair used the money Olufsen’s mother received for selling the farm’s eggs to finance their endeavor. Before long, Bang achieved his entrepreneurial dreams. In 1925, Bang and Olufsen, with the backing of their fathers, formed a limited company funded with DKK 10,000.


After traveling to Copenhagen, where the necessary papers were drawn up, naming Bang’s father, Camillo Cavour Bang, as B&O’s first chairman of the board, the two radio aficionados returned to Quistrup. Bang moved into the attic, putting his bed in the same room as the mains receiver. Bang and Olufsen hired the cowman’s daughter as the company’s sole employee, whose first task each morning was to wake up Bang 15 minutes before the company’s day officially began. The company’s first product was the B&O Eliminator, a device–an aggregate–that connected a battery receiver to the mains to produce noise-free current.

B&O grew quickly. By 1927, the activities in the attic had spread throughout the estate and spilled onto the lawns, where B&O Eliminators were assembled by a staff of 30. Quistrup could no longer accommodate the growth of the company’s payroll and the sprawl of the manufacturing operations, forcing Bang and Olufsen to establish a new site for the company’s headquarters. Their fathers, who together owned 20 percent of the company, remained unconvinced that radio would last, so they stipulated that the new factory be designed as a school building in case radio proved a fleeting fancy. In 1927, B&O moved into its new factory, and the company soon began development of a new radio.

By 1929, the company had completed the design of its breakthrough radio, the Five Lamper and its peripheral “Type D” loudspeaker. Powered from the mains, the Five Lamper only required connection to an electrical outlet for operation. It was the company’s first signal success, embodying the two characteristics that would define B&O’s success in the decades to follow: style and technology. The Five Lamper was a technological marvel, displaying what would become a signature trait of B&O’s products. The Five Lamper was also the first radio encased in a walnut cabinet, exuding elegance in design that drew its inspiration from the Danish furniture industry. For B&O, the combination of style and technology would prove to be a potent formula for success, becoming the foundation upon which all of its subsequent products were based.

The Five Lamper established B&O in the Danish market, securing a leading and lasting position for the West Jutland company, far removed from the hub of activity in Copenhagen. Strong sales and a sleek design at a time when radios were clunky and cumbersome set B&O apart, establishing a reputation that the company would solidify during the 1930s. During that decade, B&O introduced new products, including a radio gramophone in 1930 and several new radio models (Radio 5 RGF, Hyperbo 5 RGF, and Beolit 39). These products notwithstanding, the years preceding World War II were most notable for less tangible results. The 1930s saw B&O strengthen its image as a design-oriented, technology-driven company. It was a company that proclaimed itself as “The Danish Hallmark of Quality” registered as the company’s slogan in 1931, and a company that bore a “pregnant B” inspired by the Bauhaus school of design as part of its corporate logo, trademarked in 1932.

The outbreak of World War II cast a pall over the future of B&O just as the company had taken a firm hold on the Danish market. Denmark was largely defenseless against the onrush of the German Blitzkrieg, and within seven months of the war’s start, the country was occupied by German troops. Not surprisingly, raw materials became hard to come by, particularly radio tubes, but Bang and Olufsen had anticipated the war’s arrival and had begun increasing their stock of essential parts as far back as 1935. Consequently, B&O was able to retain its full workforce during the first few years of the war, a rare feat for Danish manufacturing companies. Ultimately, however, B&O paid a price for its resilience and, specifically, for its resistance. In January 1945, the Germans bombed B&O’s factory, targeting the building because the company had refused to collaborate and because a number of B&O employees were suspected Danish Resistance members. Construction of a new factory began the day after the bombing and was completed in early 1946, but it took another year before full production was resumed.

As B&O recovered from the turmoil of the 1940s, it enjoyed a brief respite before another portentous event clouded the company’s future. After introducing electric shavers into the market in 1946 - a diversification spawned from the scarcity of raw materials during World War II - B&O started manufacturing televisions and tape recorders, fleshing out its product line as it honed its skills in design. Beginning in the 1950s, the company began soliciting the help of Denmark’s renowned architects and designers, drawing from the pool of talent that had made the Danish furniture industry an influential force in design. The effect of the company’s collaboration with the country’s leading designers became evident during the latter half of the 1950s, as B&O radios, televisions and tape recorders earned high praise for their aesthetic appeal. At the same time, by the end of the 1950s, the company’s prospects for survival appeared grim. A little more than a decade after rebuilding its factory, the company again faced the considerable might of the Germans, a face-off that few industry observers believed B&O could withstand.

B&O’s concerns stemmed from the 1957 Treaty of Rome, which spawned the European Economic Community. Tariffs, duties, and customs were relaxed between member countries, leading to the consensus that the Danish radio industry, comprising approximately 20 small companies, would be subsumed by the superior strength of the much larger German manufacturers. The looming threat of much stiffer competition forced B&O to rethink its strategy, prompting the company to leverage its esteemed design expertise and its experience selling semiprofessional, high-fidelity equipment to the United States as the basis for its new approach. The company decided to sacrifice its leading market position in Denmark in order to concentrate on the much larger European market, forsaking dominance in a small market for a small share of a bigger market. In accordance with the new business focus, the company began to develop an entirely new line of stereo products that catered to the high end of the market, an approach evident in the slogan adopted during the 1960s: “B&O - for those who discuss taste and quality before price”.

B&O’s efforts to penetrate the European market bore fruit with the introduction of the Beomaster 900. The Beomaster 900 did to Europe what the Five Lamper had done to Denmark 30 years earlier: the transistorised radio became a success throughout Europe, and despite the company’s fears, its share of the Danish market did not diminish. The Treaty of Rome had forced many of the Danish manufacturers out of business, leaving B&O in a position to strengthen its domestic lead. By the time Beomaster 900 was introduced, B&O was ready to secure a presence in the then-developing market for high-fidelity systems. The company wanted to establish the standard by which all stereo systems would measured, an ideal that was realised with the Beolab 5000 series. Featuring a sensitive tuner, a powerful amplifier, and linear controls instead of knobs, the Beolab 5000 became B&O’s second European success, spawning more affordable versions, Beomaster 1200 and Beomaster 3000.

Having established itself as a genuine contender in the vast European market, B&O spent the late 1960s restructuring its operations to conform to its new market orientation. The company established subsidiaries that replaced a network of agents that had previously carried out the international distribution. The reorganization included the formation of Bomark in 1970, which created an international marketing department responsible for coordinating all of the company’s marketing activities. Previously, the company had taken whatever advertising it had created for the Danish market and used it to support its foreign marketing efforts, changing it only slightly to reflect cultural and market differences. The new system regarded the Danish market as only one of many markets, driving the company’s evolution toward becoming a multinational concern. B&O marketing adopted the company’s new perspective, as advertising campaigns became specifically tailored for the nuances of individual markets amid divergent cultures.

After the success of Beolab 5000, B&O next prodded its engineers and designers to develop a complete array of stereo components. The first product to make its debut was Beogram 4000, a turntable introduced in 1972 featuring a tangential arm that reproduced a recording in the same way in which it had been made. The record player was designed to target a different, much larger market segment, music lovers rather than the more exclusive retinue of technology-focused customers. Advanced technology, always an integral aspect of B&O’s products, was not forsaken, but hidden beneath the surface, as the company’s products earned a new distinction of exterior simplicity. This quality was first evident in Beomaster 1900, a system introduced in 1975 that market a turning point in the evolution of the B&O product line. For the next 20 years, Beomaster 1900 would be the company’s best-selling product.


Problems in the 1980s resolved in the 1990s

This success notwithstanding, the 1980s proved to be a difficult decade for B&O, as the company struggled to beat back fierce competition from its Asian rivals. Although external pressures played their part, the company also fell victim to internal problems, problems of its own making that B&O’s management was slow to acknowledge. The company’s distributors lost faith in the B&O product line, and revenues began to slip. Initially, B&O tried to arrest its slide by narrowing its market focus on its wealthiest customers, but in the process the company’s products lost some of their integrity, as substance was sacrificed for style. The company also tried to restore loyalty within its distributor ranks by staging seasonal product launches in exotic locations, but the effort failed. B&O’s fundamental problem had to do with the decentralization that followed the company’s full-fledged foray into international markets. The subsidiaries, by the 1980s, had become separate fiefdoms, which led to overspending, high costs, and superfluous bureaucratization. At the same time, the company had lost the ability to react nimbly to changing market conditions.

Before the end of the decade, B&O became a cash-strapped enterprise. The need for capital led to a strategic alliance with Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V., the Dutch consumer electronics conglomerate, but the capital gained from the investment was soon drained. Rudderless and ailing financially, B&O entered the 1990s in crisis mode.

Salvation arrived in May 1991, when B&O’s board of directors installed a new management team, led by Anders Knutsen. Knutsen’s first task was to cut costs, an objective fulfilled by laying off employees, streamlining operations, and paring away excess layers of management. Knutsen also implemented a new strategic plan known as “Break Point 1993″ which addressed the problems born of the company’s earlier decentralization. Knutsen reintroduced centralized management and made the company more responsive to the demands of its customers. Stocks of finished products and parts were removed from many of B&O’s subsidiaries, as Knutsen transformed B&O from a company geared for mass production into an enterprise organized to fulfill customers’ orders. The changes sparked a turnaround, refreshing the spirit and resharpening the focus that had predicated B&O’s success.

At the end of the 1990s, B&O approached its 75th anniversary as a unique competitor in the consumer electronics industry. The company’s attention to design and its long record of technological advancements remained the qualities that set the B&O name apart. With sales nearing the half-billion-dollar mark by the century’s end, B&O promised to figure as a prominent force in the years ahead, as a new generation of high-technology stereos, speakers, and televisions and telephones continued the legacy established by Peter Bang and Svend Olufsen.


Principal Subsidiaries

Bang & Olufsen Medicom A/S; Bang & Olufsen Telecom A/S; Bang & Olufsen Technology A/S;
Bang & Olufsen PowerHouse A/S; Bang & Olufsen America, Inc

Principal Competitors

Bose Corporation; Harman International Industries, Inc.; Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd

Further Reading

Baeb, Eddie, “Bang & Olufsen Marching to Its Own Drummer,” Crain’s Chicago Business, October 30, 2000, p. 9

“Bang & Olufsen Divest Shareholding in Baan NV,” M2 Communications Ltd., January 4, 2000

Bang, Jens, From Vision to Legend, Denmark: Bang & Olufsen, 1999

“Business Diary: Agreements: Visteon Automotive,” Crain’s Detroit Business, June 21, 1999

Carnoy, David, “Bang for the Buck,” Fortune, May 1, 2000, p. 362

“Harvey Electronics, Inc. Announces Opening of Bang & Olufsen Showroom in Greenwich, Connecticut,” Business Wire, October 18, 2000

“Toys for the Ear,” Boston Herald, December 5, 1999, Sunday Magazine Section

Company Perspectives:

At the threshold of a new century, Bang & Olufsen’s reputation remains second-to-none in the global market for leading-edge audio & video products. Little wonder that New York’s Museum of Modern Art arranged a 39-piece special exhibition of Bang & Olufsen products in 1978 - an honor only given to three other companies during the 20th century.

Key Dates:

1925: Bang & Olufsen is formed as a limited company

1929: Introduction of the Five Lamper secures the new company

1962: Concerted push into European markets begins

1975: Beomaster 1900 becomes best-selling product for next 20 years

1980: Company revenues drop due to Asian competition and worldwide recession

1991: New management team spearheads recovery.

Some of References:

"Annual Report 2013/14: 01 June 2013 – 31 May 2014" (PDF). az498215.vo.msecnd.net.

"HARMAN Completes Acquisition of Bang & Olufsen's Automotive Audio Business". HARMAN Newsroom. Retrieved 2019-02-24.

"B & O Sells Czech Factory to Tymphany". Retrieved 2019-02-24.

"Global Operations". Tymphany. Retrieved 2019-02-24.

"The true story behind Bang and Olufsen", William Schwark, Scanorama, November 2007

Walker, Rob (September 27, 2011). "Can the Cult of Bang & Olufsen Last?". Wired.

Bang & Olufsen rolls out strategy plan bang-olufsen.com

"Denmark's Bang & Olufsen would listen to bid approaches", Reuters, 5 January 2015

"HP makes Bang & Olufsen its new audio partner". CNET. Retrieved 21 February 2016.

Holt, Julie Ring-Hansen (25 October 2006). "Seks ud af ti nye Audier fødes med B&O-anlæg" [Six out of ten new Audis are born with Bang & Olufsen system] (in Danish). Mediehuset Ingeniøren A/S. Retrieved 6 November 2014.

Krøyer, Kent (13 March 2005). "Audi med indbygget koncertsal fra B&O" [Audi with built in concert hall from B&O] (in Danish). Mediehuset Ingeniøren A/S. Retrieved 6 November 2014.

"Audi Glossary". Archived from the original on 6 November 2011. Retrieved 11 November 2011.

"Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-04-24. Retrieved 2013-04-21.

Mercedes AMG S-class"mercedes-amg.com

Abuelsamid, Sam. "B&O Play Audio Systems To Replace Sony In Ford Vehicles In 2017". Forbes. Retrieved 2017-09-17.

"2018 Ford® F-150 Limited Truck | Model Highlights | Ford.com". www.ford.com. Retrieved 2017-09-17.

Bang & Olufsen - Business to Business bang-olufsen.com

"10 classic jacob jensen gadgets".

"Elegant Design of Sound Equipment Focus of MoMA Show" (PDF). Museum of Modern Art. March 1978.

Apple's Inspiration For The iPod? Bang & Olufsen, Not Braun, fastdesign.com, Nov 2013

"ICEpower – Class D OEM audio amplifiers".

Bang & Olufsen Medicom Archived 2009-04-04 at the Wayback Machine medicom.bang-olufsen.com

Beocentral - the definitive Bang & Olufsen reference site Collectors reference site beocentral.com

Simonsen, Torben R. "ICEpower in all active speakers", (in Danish) Electronics Business, 28 September 2010. Accessed: 9 March 2011.

"Bang & Olufsen's Edge speaker can be rolled to adjust the volume". The Verge. Retrieved 2018-08-29.

Further reading:

Bang, Jens (2005). From Spark to Icon. Denmark: Bang & Olufsen. ISBN 87-980814-5-4.
Jarman, Tim; Jarman Nick (2008). Crowood Collectors' Series: Bang & Olufsen. England: Crowood Press. ISBN 978-1-84797-068-8.

Einzelnachweise:

Kultmarke Bang & Olufsen türmt weiter Verluste auf

Bang & Olufsen lagert Fernseherproduktion aus, Bericht auf Heise online vom 19. März 2016, abgerufen am 20. März 2016

bloomberg.com: Bang & Olufsen to Sell Car-Audio Unit to Harman in Focus Shift (engl.) abgerufen am 25. April 2015
Archivlink (Memento des Originals vom 23. Dezember 2016 im Internet Archive)  Info: Der Archivlink wurde automatisch eingesetzt und noch nicht geprüft. Bitte prüfe Original- und Archivlink gemäß Anleitung und entferne dann diesen Hinweis.
icepower.dk: Advantages (Memento des Originals vom 26. Januar 2016 im Internet Archive)  Info: Der Archivlink wurde automatisch eingesetzt und noch nicht geprüft. Bitte prüfe Original- und Archivlink gemäß Anleitung und entferne dann diesen Hinweis.