Packard Bell

Packard Bell (or formerly stylized as Packard-Bell) is a manufacturer of electronics, founded in 1926 as an army-based radio manufacturer. During World War II, the company expanded into defense electronics until they finally started creating personal electronics after World War II ended. In 1955, they issued stock after positive publicity. Then, in 1964, they sold their electronic line to Raytheon. In 1968, Teledyne bought the brand name and created Packard Bell Records under the company. The only release under PB's music subsidiary was Space Age Stereo, with narration by music conductor and composer Steve Allen. However, in 1986, Beny Alagem, a wealthy Isreali investor and former RCA technician, bought the rights to the Packard-Bell name and removed the hyphen from it. The company moved its headquarters from San Andreas, California to the Netherlands. It was rebranded as a computer manufacturer. In November 1995, Packard Bell merged its operations with NEC, thus bringing in $10 billion USD. However, after the effects of the dot-com bubble during the new millennium era, in December 1999, NEC and Packard Bell lost $2 billion, then, in May 2000, they ended the merger. Also, in October of the same year, Packard Bell stop manufacturing and selling their electronics in the United States and Canada, only producing computers and phones in Europe, South America and the Middle East. Unfortunately, by July 2001, Packard Bell faced a $40 million loss in international stock investments, due to stiff competition with rival companies such as Dell and HP, as well as soon-to-be sister company Gateway. During the impact of the September 11th terrorist attacks, Packard Bell's interest steadily kept declining and products did not consume that much as Dell's. Then, in early 2002, after ending operations in North America, Packard Bell's stock name (PBI) quietly disappeared from the stock market. In 2005, Packard Bell was acquired by Taiwanese computer giant Acer in a 75-percentage major ownership deal. However, Lenovo and Dell were fighting to buy the brand as well. Even more, after Acer acquired Gateway and its subsidiary brand eMachines for $710 million, the Packard Bell acquisition wasn't completed until mid-2008. In 2009, Acer stopped Packard Bell's computing operations in South America. Then, in January 2016, PBX Holdings, LLC. was created as a new division for Acer, Inc. and a semi-parent owner for the Packard Bell brand. In 2017, PBX Holdings and Acer revived Packard Bell in North America for the first time since the start of the third millennium. In 2018, Packard Bell started selling two-in-one computers and tablets exclusively at JCPenney and Menards. As of right now, the Packard Bell name is 50% owned by PBX Holdings, LLC., a division of Acer Computers, Inc. for North American purposes, involving only two-in-one tablets; while the name is also 50% retained by Acer in Europe and the Middle East, only for computers and personal tablets (not two-in-ones).