SABA

SABA (Schwarzwälder Apparate-Bau-Anstalt lit. Black Forest Apparatus Construction Institution) is a German electronics company founded in 1923 at Triberg im Schwarzwald (Black Forest), present-day Baden-Württemberg. SABA started as a clock-making company, then became a radio manufacturer, and a few years later a record label. In 1968, SABA sold the majority of the company to GTE, an American telephone company. In 1980, the company was purchased by Thomson SA and integrated as a separate business unit. History SABA began as a clock-maker in Triberg (Black Forest), founded in 1835 by Joseph Benedikt Schwer. In 1918 it moved to Villingen. Herman Schwer, the founder's grandson, started the manufacturing of headphones, radio parts, and a variety of products from radio components to receivers. In 1931, SABA produced more than 100,000 units of the SABA Radio Type S-35. It introduced for the first time on the market dynamic loudspeakers which soon became a bestseller. The company developed the first radio receiver with search and automatic fine tuning in all bandwidths. In 1951, IFA, a consumer industry electronics show in Berlin allowed SABA to show their first TV receiver. SABA successes enabled the company to manufacture tape recorders. It introduced the large TV screen projector 'Telerama' on the market, and it launched the first color TV with wireless remote control. Purchase In 1968, the American Company GTE purchased 85% of SABA with the aim of achieving the greatest possible synergy with its own Sylvania brand. SABA built the first hi-fi audio set with wireless remote control and introduced a failure diagnosis system. SABA launched first modularized color TV built only of pluggable sub-assembly boards. In 1973, SABA was at this period a serious competitor to the leading Telefunken and Grundig brands. In 1976, SABA became a subsidiary of the American company GTE