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History

History - 1929-2009: 80 years of acoustic experience

1929: History Philips establishes "Philips Radioröhren GmbH" in Vienna, one of the first Philips factories outside the Netherlands.
1936: Philips buys "Radiohaus Horny". The Company is from now on called "Wirag" (Wiener Radiowerk) and produces tubes, radio receivers and loudspeakers.

During the Second World War radio devices are produced for the Army. The annual production rises to 45,000 devices, 50% of which are exported.
1944: The building is seriously damaged by allied bombardments.
1947: History The product portfolio includes:
  • Acoustic devices
  • Electrocondensators
  • Dynamic speakers
1956: Beside the audio production, Philips produces:
  • Dictaphones
  • Cassette recorders and cassettes
1963: The company, acoustic division included, has grown to 4,600 employees, 2,000 of which are women.
1970: Up to the year 1970 mainly speakers for application in the broadcasting area had been produced and the "Loudspeakers Factory" is the only supplier for the production of radio receivers for Wirag
1986: The steady increase of market demands in the AUDIO sector guarantees a steady growth in turnover.

The zenith can be noted in the years 1970 up to 1986 in which up to 10 Mio. Speakers have been produced per year.
1988: After the "migration" of AUDIO-Production places to Far East Countries, the production capacity of the Viennese "Loudspeakers Factory" can be used for the VIDEO market thanks to numerous adaptations of the products. But the business faces hard times in the years 1986 up to 1990 because this market segment migrated to the Far East as well.
1989: The "Loudspeakers Factory" alias "BL Sound Solutions Vienna" becomes a part of the Business Unit "Philips Speaker Systems" which is based in Dendermonde (Belgium).
1990 - 2000: A strategic decision is made to produce for the increasing communication market and to focus on this segment. In the following 3 years the business grows rapidly due to modern technologies and high product quality.

Increasing requirements to be more flexible forces BL Sound Solutions Vienna to leave the distribution channel of Philips Components in the year 1993. Since then BL Sound Solutions supports their customers directly.

After mainly producing speakers for wired telecommunication, it is necessary to develop new miniature products for the rapidly growing mobile phone market. With these products a world wide leading position has been reached and consolidated.

BL Sound Solutions starts to become the global market and technology leader for acoustic solutions within the mobile phone market
2001: The Company decides to build up a further production facility in Beijing, China, to serve the local market. Since April 2001 they produce speakers of the same quality and flexibility standards, based on the current production procedures and processes, as the Viennese headquarters.

For activities, which cannot be fully automated because of economical reasons, BL Sound Solutions also utilizes subcontractors. This includes the production of "Semi-products" like "Pot assy", the magnet system of a speaker, as well as the semi-automated production of speakers in a small yearly quantity.

Subcontractors also carry out labor intensive assembling of BL Sound Solutions products. In this case the blank-speakers will be adapted with gaskets, cables, plastic rings, etc. according to customer requirements. These relevant products are called "Add Ons".
2001-2003: According to a change of the name by 1st October 2001, the abbreviation PSS stands for "Philips Sound Solutions".

From 1st January 2003 onwards BL Sound Solutions - now called "Business Team (BT) BL Sound Solutions" - has been assigned to the Product Division (PD) "Semiconductors" reporting to "Mobile Display Systems" (MDS).
2004: BL Sound Solutions exits from MDS and becomes an independent Business Unit within the PD Semiconductors.

In fact BL Sound Solutions is embedded into PD Semiconductors, but remains to a large extend independent. This offers the support and infrastructure of a global business, coupled with the flexibility of a focused business.
2006: Berlin, Germany, 1st September: Philips Semiconductors CEO Frans van Houten reveals the company will move forward as NXP, marking a milestone in its 53 year history as it becomes independent from Royal Philips.

NXP Semiconductors consists of 4 Business Units with around 37,000 employees worldwide. Philips Sound Solutions is part of Business Unit Mobile & Personal, together with 3 other Business Lines.
2008: NXP Semiconductors and ST build a Joint Venture in which BU Mobile & Personal will be part of. Business Line Sound Solutions remains in the NXP Semiconductors structure and goes to BU Multi Market Semiconductors.
2009: NXP BL Sound Solutions celebrates its 80th anniversary in the acoustic field.