Harman Becker Automotive Systems

Harman Becker Automotive Systems GmbH, commonly known as Becker, is a part of the car division of the American manufacturing company, Harman International Industries, a subsidiary of South Korean company Samsung Electronics.

Harman Becker Automotive Systems GmbH
TypeGmbH
IndustryAutomotive supplier
Founded1949
Headquarters
Karlsbad, Germany
Key people
Michael Mauser, Udo Hüls (managing directors)
Frank Groth (chairman of the supervisory board)
Revenue1,383 B Euro (2013/2014)[1]
Number of employees
2,000 (2013/2014)[1]
ParentHarman International Industries
Websitewww.harman.com
Becker Europa car radio
A Becker Mexico car radio, produced since 1977.
Becker Indianapolis

History

The present company goes back to the German car radio and navigation systems manufacturer, Becker. This firm was founded in 1949 from a repair workshop in the Baden town of Pforzheim. Its founder was Max Egon Becker (died 1983).[2] In 1953 the first car radio with automatic search for stations was launched.[3] 1955 Becker started with aircraft radio; this part of Becker is lead by the son of the founder, Roland Becker, until today.[2] In 1987 Boris Becker launched a CD car receiver.[4] In 1995, the US concern, Harman International, took over the firm (without the aircraft radio part). In that time Becker had 1,300 employees and two plants.[5]

The company, with its head office in Karlsbad near Karlsruhe and other bases in the USA and Hungary developed and integrated complete infotainment systems worldwide. Its product range runs from navigation systems, voice control and HMIs to audio and entertainment technologies. From its earliest days, Harman Becker Automotive Systems was a supplier to Mercedes-Benz,[6] but also supplies marques such as Audi, Porsche, Peugeot, Hyundai, Ferrari, Rolls-Royce, BMW and Mini. Worldwide, Harman Becker has 28 bases in the following countries: Germany, USA, Great Britain, France, Sweden, Hungary, Canada, Mexico, South Africa (to 2008), Japan, South Korea and China. Since 11 January 2010 Harman Becker Automotive Systems has pulled out of the market for mobile navigation. The trademarks Becker Traffic Assist, Becker Traffic Assist Pro etc. were given to United Navigation. Under the latter's roof, the brands Falk and Becker continue to run.

Since 2008, as part of the strategy of its parent concern, Harman International, the company's divisions have been increasingly based in low-wage economies, so that the number of employees in its German bases has dropped from 3,800[7] in 2008 to 2,250 in 2013. The bases of Hechingen, Villingen-Schwenningen,[8] Schaidt[9] and Hamburg (leading developlent of navigation software Innovative Systems, sold in 2008 to Neusoft China as Neusoft Technology Solutions)[6] were closed down or sold off.

In November 2016, it is understood that Samsung Electronics acquired Harman for eight billion US dollars.[10] The acquisition was completed on 10 March 2017.

References
  1. Bundesanzeiger.de: Harman Becker Automotive Systems GmbH: Jahresabschluss zum Geschäftsjahr vom 1. Juli 2013 bis zum 30. Juni 2014
  2. aerokurier.de 11 August 2016, 60 Jahre Becker Avionics (German), retrieved 2020-10-04.
  3. faz.net 5 Oktober 2007, 75 Jahre Autoradio: Von Musiktruhen zu Multimedia-Zentralen (German) , retrieved 2020-10-04.
  4. historic-radios.info, Becker, retrieved 2020-10-04 (German).
  5. focus.de, No. 5 (1995) AUTORADIO BECKER Zwischen Mühlsteinen (German), retrieved 2020-10-04.
  6. "Harman Becker Hersteller von Consumer Electronics aus Karlsbad in der Firmendatenbank wer-zu-wem.de". www.wer-zu-wem.de (in German). Retrieved 2016-11-10.
  7. Augsburger Allgemeine, "Massiver Stellenabbau bei Harman/Becker", Augsburger Allgemeine (in German), retrieved 2016-11-10
  8. Südkurier Medienhaus, "Villingen-Schwenningen: Harman Becker schließt Labor | SÜDKURIER Online", SÜDKURIER Online (in German), retrieved 2016-11-10
  9. "Titelseite". www.rheinpfalz.de (in German). 2016-11-10. Archived from the original on 2014-01-16. Retrieved 2016-11-10.
  10. Kim Deok-hyun (2016-11-14). "(2nd LD) Samsung acquires U.S. automotive electronics firm Harman for $8 bln". Yonhap. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
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