Packard Bell

Packard Bell is a subsidiary of Taiwan-based Acer. It is a name that has been used by two different consumer electronics companies. The first was an American radio manufacturer founded in 1926,^[1][2] that later became a defense contractor and manufacturer of other consumer electronics, such as television sets. Teledyne acquired the business in 1978. In 1986, investors bought the name for a newly formed personal computer manufacturer. Originally the company produced discount computers in the US, it later became a leader in the European market. NEC took it over in the late 1990s. Taiwanese Acer acquired it in 2008.[3]

In spite of the similarity of their names, there has never been any corporate connection between the original or later Packard Bell and Hewlett Packard, or Bell System.

Electronics manufacturer

The original Packard Bell was founded in 1926 as a maker of consumer radios. It later found success in the military electronics industry and the television market.^[3] It also manufactured some of the earliest computers, the most famous of which, the PB 250 released in 1961, was one of the last users of magnetostrictive delay lines as part of its memory. It was also the last machine to be partially based on the original designs of Alan Turing’s NPL Pilot ACE computer.

A Packard Bell radio was used as a prop in the 1960s American television series, Gilligan's Island. The Japanese-made, eight-transistor AR-851 was an important plot device over the course of the three year run of the show. A handle and external antenna were added to the AM-only radio, presumably to make it appear more "radio-like."

From 1926 through 1950, the marketing area for Packard Bell radios consisted of the states of Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. Many Packard Bell models made during this period have stationized dials with the call letters of the major stations from these states marked in their proper places on the dial. These "stationized" dials also include KSL 1160 in Salt Lake City and KOA 850 in Denver. After 1950, Packard Bell discontinued its "stationized" dials when it began selling radios and televisions throughout North America.

Computer manufacturer

Packard Bell BV

In 1986, Beny Alagem and a group of Israeli investors bought the Packard Bell name from Teledyne ^[4] and resurrected it as a manufacturer of low-cost personal computers. Their computers were among the first IBM PC compatibles sold in retail chains such as Sears.^[5]

Packard Bell sometimes benefited from misplaced name recognition, with consumers (especially first-time computer buyers) and even some salespeople erroneously associating the company with others of similar name, such as Hewlett-Packard, Packard, Pacific Bell, and Bell Laboratories. Packard Bell's old slogan, "America grew up listening to us. It still does", may have facilitated the confusion^[6]. The company also sold nearly identical systems under different names, making comparison difficult.

Aside from price and brand misnomers, Packard Bell's success in number of units sold may have come from two areas of innovation: 1) branding and industrial design, provided by the San Francisco offices of frog design; and 2) its boot-up shell Packard Bell Navigator, created by The Pixel Company in Seattle. They targeted a huge section of consumers who were inexperienced using computers. frog design gave the look of quality and invented innovations such as color coding cable connectors and integrated speakers and microphones, while Navigator provided the ability for anyone could use a computer through a simple button, and then later a house metaphor.^[7] During this phase returns dropped from 19% to 10% and sales grew exponentially. Navigator was also the basis for the much more feature-rich Microsoft Bob. In late 1995 to early 1996 Microsoft forced boot-up shells off OEM computers by updating its Microsoft Windows distribution agreement (OPK 2) and Packard Bell, without a clear on-shelf differentiator, saw sales begin to tumble.^{[citation needed]}

In 1995 Compaq sued Packard Bell for not disclosing that Packard Bell computers incorporated previously owned parts, a practice still widespread in the computer industry including Compaq itself (as Compaq also noted in its suit that it also practiced this, but disclosed it in the warranty statement).^[8].^{[dead link]} The company was the subject of several lawsuits and paid millions of dollars in settlements. In 2005 PC World Magazine ranked the Packard Bell computers of 1986–1996 as the worst PCs manufactured of all time.^[9] In addition, one out of six Packard Bell PCs sold at retail was returned, a rate double the industry average.^[9]

A Packard Bell Multimedia M400, manufactured in the mid-1990s.

In 1995, Packard Bell acquired Zenith Data Systems from Groupe Bull in a deal which saw Groupe Bull and NEC taking a larger stake in Packard Bell^[10] to create a $4.5 billion company. The company now became integrated with NEC Computers. Its 15% market share made it the largest PC manufacturer, in terms of units shipped, in the United States. However, Compaq overtook it in retail sales in mid-1996 and cemented its lead the next year with the release of a $999 PC in March 1997.

Packard Bell posted losses totaling more than $1 billion in 1997 and 1998. In the U.S., price pressure from Compaq and, later, eMachines, along with continued poor showings in consumer satisfaction surveys made it difficult for the company to remain profitable and led to Alagem's departure in 1998. In 1999, NEC began withdrawing the Packard Bell name from the U.S. market, while keeping it in Europe, where the brand was untainted by allegations of sub-standard quality.^[11]

Packard Bell Europe

In 2000, Packard Bell was withdrawn from the U.S. market, selling their Utah based call centers, all US inventory in Sacramento and all US product liability to Alorica Inc. who was responsible for providing support to all remaining US customers. However, Packard Bell continued to be popular overseas as Packard Bell Europe (PBE),^[12] They have also entered the MP3 business and produced a MP3/WMA player called the "AudioDream". In 2004, Packard Bell changed their logo and began manufacturing media products for television and wireless networking.

Packard Bell also sells accessories and has started operating in other continents. In September 2006, Packard Bell was bought by John Hui, the former owner of eMachines who sold eMachines to Gateway on January 30, 2004. Now known as Packard Bell BV, the company has relocated to Nijmegen in the Netherlands.

In August 2007 Chinese PC manufacturer Lenovo confirmed its interest in acquiring Packard Bell in a move to expand its market into Europe by tendering an offer for Packard Bell.^[13] In January 2008, Acer announced that it had acquired a controlling interest of 75% in the parent company of Packard Bell due to rights that it had acquired when it purchased Gateway, enabling Acer to counter offer any third party bid on Packard Bell.^[14] Packard Bell is now in the same corporate family as Gateway, a former competitor.

Sponsorship

From 1996 until 2000, when Strongbow took over the contract, Packard Bell sponsored English football club Leeds United.

For 2009, the name Packard Bell can be seen on the FIAT Yamaha MotoGP racebike of World Champion Valentino Rossi of Italy.^[15] Packard Bell also dropped their sponsorship from the Professional Electronic Sports Team, 4Kings.

Notes and references

External links

• Official site
• Support information on old Packard Bell motherboards
• Packard Bell Sells More PCs In The U.S. Than Anyone. So Just Who Are These Guys? 1995 Fortune article