Another fallen brand repurposed - Blaupunkt

[Deodand2014]

Blaupunkt went out of business in 2016. Obviously someone has control of the name and is licensing it to whoever want's to slap it on any old tat, in this case rated in Chinese Watts (divide by 3 to get the real rating...)



At least we now know the name of those capacitors you find in a lot of cheap Chinese electronic items are called Chengx not Changx or Chongx

And it's not just amps

[oPossum]

Obviously someone has control of the name and is licensing it to whoever want's to slap it on any old tat

Bosh retained the engineering and manufacturing that was Blaupunkt before 2010 and still makes OEM car audio products.


The Blaupunkt brand in USA...

https://www.blaupunkt.com/us/brand-partner/

Audio North America

WorldWide Accessories, Inc PO Box 194 244 Madison Ave New York, NY 10016
techsupport@worldwideacc.com 1-800-751-3247

Mobile Phone Accessories

WorldWide Accessories, Inc PO Box 194 244 Madison Ave New York, NY 10016
techsupport@worldwideacc.com 1-800-751-3247

In vehicle entertainment

Shagal

[Deodand2014]

And here's the Australian page.

https://www.blaupunkt.com/au/

BTW is China the only place where an SD is called TF?

The range is vaguely plausible, mostly consumer electronics, but I'm not so sure about the windscreen wipers, or any of the other claims on their website. The digital radios are available through places like JBHiFi.

Great use of stock photos though...

And here is where the mask drops:

https://www.blaupunkt.com/ase/brand-partner/

[tsman]

BTW is China the only place where an SD is called TF?

TransFlash was the original name for the microSD form factor.

[ebastler]

In Germany, they market a ridiculously broad range of products under the Blaupunkt name:
https://www.blaupunkt.com/de/

Anything from audio and video equipment, kitchen appliances, ... to batteries. Probably more than the real Blaupunkt portfolio ever had...

[Deodand2014]

BTW is China the only place where an SD is called TF?

TransFlash was the original name for the microSD form factor.

Thanks, I noticed that a Bluetooth speaker the 'Australian' Blaupunkt is offering used TF as the name for their SD card slot, doing a quick search on that site bought up a list of 'Brand Partners', I've linked to in my previous post. One in Hong Kong, One in Malaysia, these will be the people supplying the goods.

[Deodand2014]

More digging into just who is behind 'Blaupunkt' these days bought up this website, they are mentioned as a 'Brand Partner' via the Australian version of the site.

http://www.ayonz.com/

Ayonz provides an end-to-end technology solution for our channel partners. Combining unmatched experience and specialised skills, we offer our customers competitive advantage and improved performance through exceptional operational capability, modern and equipped facilities, and tailored solutions across the whole value chain.

Ayonz supplies a broad range of house hold appliances and technology products as well as business strategy and operational solution design services. We do this by working across the intersection of business and technology providing our customers with expert advice on product range and brand selection; and improving supply chain efficiency. This enhances performance and ensures our customers remain ahead of the market.

Which when stripped of the fancy language, means they take cheap tat from China, slap a respected (but now defunct) name on it and sell at an inflated price.

The list of names they manage in addition to Blaupunkt are:

Westinghouse Electronics? (Chinese owned, US based marketer of TVs. Owned by the owner of the company below)
Seiki Digital (Chinese owned, US based maker of inexpensive TVs)
Germanica (Washing machines/Whitegoods, website copyright 2019)
Jaeger (?)
[code_republic] (Laptop Bags and similar for Women.)
LEX (?)
EKO (?, check the linked website for how the name appears.)
Urbanworx (Consumer gadgets, wireless microphones, selfie sticks, etc.)

Westinghouse Electronics & Seiki Digital are both owned by Tsinghua Tongfang Pty Ltd (aka 'The Chinese Connection')

[electromotive]

Westinghouse Electronics & Seiki Digital are both owned by Tsinghua Tongfang Pty Ltd (aka 'The Chinese Connection')

I could have sworn Westinghouse Electronics and GE's small home appliances were both controlled by Salton.

[james_s]

Brands used to mean something, now they are virtually irrelevant, just a name slapped on whatever stuff. The world would be a better place without the marketing types.

[rdl]

Chinese companies have been buying up entire western companies, not just the brand names, for years.

A few I found surprising, but there are plenty more.

GE Appliances
MG Motors
Motorola Mobility
Pirelli
Volvo

[Alex Eisenhut]

Here's a trip down memory lane

[helius]

Chinese companies have been buying up entire western companies, not just the brand names, for years.

Just a consequence of the huge trade deficits the West has been running with them for decades. They can't eat dollars, and they do not need our exports, so the only thing remaining is to buy T-bills or securities.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balance_of_payments

[coppice]

Chinese companies have been buying up entire western companies, not just the brand names, for years.

A few I found surprising, but there are plenty more.

GE Appliances
MG Motors
Motorola Mobility
Pirelli
Volvo

Its not just China. Turkish businesses now have the rights to the names of a variety of defunct European brands. Oddly, they tend not to reuse those names for the kinds of products the original company produced. For example, Grundig is now a name on fridges and washing machines, rather than consumer electronics.

[electromotive]

Turkey has been quite direct about trying to draw investment dollars from U.S. investors for about a decade and a half now.

[Deodand2014]

Still trying to unravel who holds the brand name. Bur here is the list of firms associated with the brand in Australia.

Brand Partners

From the Car equipment section of the Australian Blaupunkt page

SKN Global Limited, Kwun Tong, Kowloon Hong Kong (Batteries/LED Lights)
Blaupunkt Asia Pacific Competence Centre : BLAPAC SDN BHD, No 11, Jalan DBP 1, Dolomite Business (Car Accessories/In Car Entertainment)

From the TV Section

Ayonz Pty Ltd (Audio Visual/Television) (No address is given for this company, just a phone number and an Email address.)

And those three companies seem to be the suppliers of everything sold in Australia.

This page linked below seems to cover all the firms using that brand for their own products, whether made by them or someone else.

https://www.blaupunkt.com/en/brand-partner/

And then there is this,...

Blaupunkt, a trademark of GIP Development SARL, Luxembourg.

, this comes from the following page:

https://www.blaupunkt.com/en/navi-footer/imprint/

Who owns that company I have no idea.

[ebastler]

And then there is this,...

Blaupunkt, a trademark of GIP Development SARL, Luxembourg.

, this comes from the following page:
https://www.blaupunkt.com/en/navi-footer/imprint/

Who owns that company I have no idea.

Yes, they seem to be holding, or at least managing, the brand. They are not exactly keeping this a secret, including the company details on the imprint page (as they should). The company also has its own website; they manage various other brands:
http://gip-development.net/

Whether it is possible in Luxemburg to get information on the shareholders of a limited liability company (SARL), I don't know. For a German GmbH, this information would be available from the trade register. But I am not curious enough to dig further at the Luxemburg register:
https://www.lbr.lu/mjrcs/

[tooki]

How sad. When I got my first car back in 2001, it had its factory radio from the early 90s with tape player, and I replaced it with a Blaupunkt CD stereo (a fairly expensive model that I got a great deal on). I had no idea that the company had folded.

[WackyGerman]

Almost every company cheats with the output power. Best example : Yamaha Music Cast Sub 100 - Output Power : 130 W (5 ohms, 100 kHz, 10% THD) frequency range : 28–300 Hz .    . So the power declaration is absolutely irrelevant

[shakalnokturn]

These days the question is more about knowing which of the formerly reputable manufacturers still do at least some of their R&D in house.

I've found that many deceiving that I no longer buy anything new from former good brand names, either go for cheap far-east stuff, knowing I'll have to check and correct some of the design flaws or buy old equipment knowing that even if it requires some maintenance at least the basic quality is there.

[Gromitt]

Chinese companies have been buying up entire western companies, not just the brand names, for years.

snip...

Volvo

Volvo is not owned by a Chinese company, Volvo Cars is (by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group). Volvo and Volvo Cars is not the same thing anymore.

[schmitt trigger]

Liars,
Damn Liars,
And car audio specs writers

[coppice]

Chinese companies have been buying up entire western companies, not just the brand names, for years.

snip...

Volvo

Volvo is not owned by a Chinese company, Volvo Cars is (by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group). Volvo and Volvo Cars is not the same thing anymore.

Geely fully own Volvo cars, but they also own a portion of Volvo trucks these days.

[rdl]

Volvo is not owned by a Chinese company, Volvo Cars is (by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group). Volvo and Volvo Cars is not the same thing anymore.

You are correct. The source was not very clear on that.

Volvo
Renowned for its super-safe, perennially reliable cars, the vehicles arm of the much-loved Swedish automotive company was sold by Ford to China's Zhejiang Geely Holding Group for $1.3 billion (£1bn) in 2010.

https://www.msn.com/en-nz/money/companies/32-famous-western-brands-bought-by-the-chinese/ss-AAkCT9X#image=2

Bought by Ford in 1999 for $6.45 billion. Sold by Ford in 2010 for $1.3 billion. Not such a good deal for them.

[james_s]

Bought by Ford in 1999 for $6.45 billion. Sold by Ford in 2010 for $1.3 billion. Not such a good deal for them.

Ford ruined Volvo, they were completely out of touch with the customer and the reasons people bought Volvos. It was almost exactly the same thing GM did even more thoroughly to Saab. Instead of building safe, comfortable but simple and incredibly practical cars they started chasing after the luxury market trying to compete with makes like Audi and BMW. The cars became bloated and unappealing and much of the outdoorsy market wanting sturdy, roomy practical cars suitable for camping and skiiing trips, hauling cargo, etc was taken by Subaru.

When you've got a winning formula, stick with it. If you're going to look at a company as a "brand" then understand what the brand means to the people who buy the products.

[Deodand2014]

Bought by Ford in 1999 for $6.45 billion. Sold by Ford in 2010 for $1.3 billion. Not such a good deal for them.

Ford ruined Volvo, they were completely out of touch with the customer and the reasons people bought Volvos. It was almost exactly the same thing GM did even more thoroughly to Saab. Instead of building safe, comfortable but simple and incredibly practical cars they started chasing after the luxury market trying to compete with makes like Audi and BMW. The cars became bloated and unappealing and much of the outdoorsy market wanting sturdy, roomy practical cars suitable for camping and skiiing trips, hauling cargo, etc was taken by Subaru.

When you've got a winning formula, stick with it. If you're going to look at a company as a "brand" then understand what the brand means to the people who buy the products.

Exactly, the company holding the Blaupunkt branding seems to have some dim idea of that since all the aftermarket car radios they offer are named after places (Something the original company did.), the radio in the video I linked to in the OP is called the Toronto (and does not appear on the Blaupunkt website so it may no longer be being offered.), others I've seen include the Salto & New Zealand.

Now all they need to understand is Quality control and not overstating your specs.

BTW it might be interesting to get one of those Toronto's while they last and replace the 'knock-off' part identified with the genuine item, if only to see if it affects the performance.