Today Bang & Olufsen celebrates their 85 year birthday. The Danish based companies celebrates today’s event with a look at their own milestones in the past 85 years.

History
For the past 85 years, Bang & Olufsen has been on the forefront when it comes to creating products that combine technological excellence and stylish appeal. It all started when two Danish engineers, Peter Bang and Svend Olufsen, founded the company in 1925. Since then, Bang & Olufsen has developed into at a world-leading brand renowned for outstanding quality, beautiful designs and creative solutions. 


Bang & Olufsen 85 year birthday

Today, Bang & Olufsen has grown to include a network of close to 1,000 stores in more than 70 countries worldwide. Over the years, customers around the world have been seduced by the beauty of Bang & Olufsen products, but they have also been amazed by the innovative technologies that ensure the best possible listening and viewing experience at all times.  


B&O Tv from 1950

B&O milestones in the past 85 years
 
B&O milestones
Bang & Olufsen’s historical milestones according to the Struer, Denmark based company.



1925
The two young Danish engineers, Peter Bang & Svend Olufsen begin a modest production of radios in the attic of the Olufsen family manor, Quistrup, near the town of Struer in the North-west of Denmark. The first commercially viable product to bear the Bang & Olufsen name was the Eliminator. It was a component inside the radio which made batteries unnecessary and allowed you to connect your radio directly to the mains.




1927
Bang & Olufsen moves production to a newly built factory in Struer. A new mains radio, the 3-lamper is launched. Today Bang & Olufsen’s main factories are still situated in Struer, at the very same site.




1934
1934 was the year of the Hyperbo, a radio and gramophone in one with integrated loudspeaker. Like other Bang & Olufsen products from the 1930s these products were significantly influenced by Bauhaus Functionalism, an influence that would later become highly characteristic of Bang & Olufsen’s design. Bauhaus is not merely a style; it is also an attitude to quality, consumer-friendliness and aesthetics. 




1939
The first Beolit radio is introduced. This was the first use of the word “Beo” and the first product using Bang & Olufsen’s new Bakelite press for moulding cabinets. 




1950
Bang & Olufsen introduces its first prototype TV at an exhibition in Forum heralding the arrival of TV in Denmark in 1950. The first production TV was the 508 S launched in 1952, a state-of-the art picture and sound of those days. 




1964
The first, slim, flat elegant radios based on the new technology of transistors are developed in Struer and marketed under the slogan; “for those who discuss design and quality before price”. The Beomaster 900 achieves immediate popularity, and becomes the “model” for most radio receiver manufacturers in Europe and Japan. 




1978
The Museum of Modern Art, New York, which now has eighteen Bang & Olufsen products in its Permanent Design Collection, holds a special exhibition of Bang & Olufsen products. 




1995
Bang & Olufsen launches BeoSound 9000, a unique six CD player with a built-in radio. It is a great sales success all over the world. 




1997
Bang & Olufsen gets ready for the next millennium by introducing the BeoCenter AV5; the first in a series of AV products that integrates all audiovisual functions into one product. 




2000
Bang & Olufsen celebrates its 75th anniversary on the verge of the new millennium. 




2002
Bang & Olufsen launches its first flat screen television utilising the new plasma display technology. 




2003
BeoLab 5 is considered an acoustic breakthrough. Bang & Olufsen gets the attention of the audiophile world with the introduction of acoustic lens technology and the adaptive bass construction that truly brings the orchestra into your living room. 




2005
In 2005 Bang & Olufsen launches the fully integrated BeoVision 7 LCD concept. We thereby complete our transition from picture tube TVs to flat screens TVs in both plasma and LCD versions, in sizes, colours, setups and combinations covering almost any need for flat screen one could imagine. 




2008
With BeoSound 5, Bang & Olufsen introduces its first fully digital audio player. The intelligent MOTS algorithm also means a rediscovery of long forgotten tracks in the music collection, and an easy approach to playlist creation. 




2009
Bang & Olufsen’s first LED-based TV concept - BeoVision 10 - is introduced. Based on the idea of adding life to your wallpaper, BeoVision 10 is the slimmest flat screen ever created by Bang & Olufsen, and it is immediately a great sales success all over the world. 




2010
Bang & Olufsen launches its first speaker dock, BeoSound 8, which is designed specifically to work with Apple's iPod, iPhone and iPad.




Remember that you can read all of the B&O articles and reviews on the B&O coverage page here.

- B&O pressemeddelelse, edited