Ideal Radiotelefon- & Apparatefabrik GmbH in Berlin used the blue dot for identification in the early 1920s. In 1924, this resulted in a brand name: Blaupunkt.
The blue dot remains part of the name and will serve as a unique identifier in the future. The brand makes a name for itself as a manufacturer of high-quality car radios. Even today, car owners click their tongues at the name Blaupunkt. Nevertheless, the blue dot loses its shine at some point. How come?
“Do you also have the headphones with the blue dot?” With this question, more and more customers stormed into the shops in the mid-1920s. Headphones with the highest sound quality are the first bestseller from Blaupunkt.
The headphones are used to listen to the program on the first radio receivers. Blaupunkt also soon develops radios. However, the company chooses a niche division. Although at the beginning of the 1930s there were just under 300,000 cars on the roads in Germany, people were still working on a car radio.
The first car radio came from Germany
In 1932, Blaupunkt presented the first car radio in Europe, the “Autosuper AS 5”, at the International Radio Exhibition in Berlin. The device is the same size as a shoe box and costs an unbelievable 465 Reichsmarks, an enormous sum even by the standards of the time. Today the price would be the equivalent of a little more than 2000 euros.
At the same time, the Robert Bosch Group secretly and quietly took over the Blaupunkt business. The transaction must be tacit. Due to contracts with the radio manufacturer Telefunken, Blaupunkt is bound by certain conditions towards the contractual partner.
After the Second World War, Bosch relocated the Blaupunkt production site from Berlin to Hildesheim. From the 1950s, the company also made televisions in addition to radios. However, the focus is still on car radios.
Blaupunkt conquers Europe
In 1952, Blaupunkt presented the first car radio with FM reception to the public. New innovations keep coming. This is how the company developed into the leading manufacturer of car radios in Europe.
At the beginning of the 1960s, it sold a million car radios, and almost ten years later it’s over ten million. At this time, almost 14,000 people work for Blaupunkt.
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Blaupunkt revolutionizes traffic information and navigation
The Blaupunkt brand is also developing a system so that traffic reports can be called up automatically on the car radio. On June 1, 1974, the system goes on the air in West Germany. Since then, car radios have used a sound signal broadcast by the radio station to recognize when traffic reports are broadcast on a station.
The company’s developers are always working on new ideas. In the 1980s, Blaupunkt was one of the first companies to recognize the potential of navigation systems. In 1983 it presented the first prototype, EVA. EVA stands for “Electronic traffic controller for drivers”.
However, it was not until 1989 that Blaupunkt presented the first production-ready navigation system, the Travel Pilot. The mini computer works without the support of satellites. The Travel Pilot relies on so-called dead reckoning. The system determines the current position of the vehicle using a map stored on a CD, the start and destination coordinates and the wheel sensors.
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Today Blaupunkt only exists as a name
In the years to come, Blaupunkt will come under increasing pressure because more and more manufacturers from Asia are now flooding the European markets with inexpensive products. Although the blue dot still stands for innovative technology and top quality from Germany, the Asian competition is catching up quickly in terms of technology and quality.
Blaupunkt’s customers are running away. That’s why the parent company Bosch pulled the ripcord in December 2008 and sold Blaupunkt to an investment holding company. As a result, the traditional company is gradually being wound up.
The Blaupunkt name still exists, but only in the brand licensing business and thus as a pure brand shell. Many products now bear the name, still car radios, but also e-bikes or vacuum cleaner robots.
The blue dot no longer serves as a seal of quality. Nevertheless, the name still has a pleasant ring to it for many people, in line with the earlier motto: “What the world radios, listen with Blaupunkt”.