Packard Bell
 |
|
| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Computer hardware |
| Fate | acquired by Acer Inc. in 2008 |
| Founded | 1986 |
| Founder | Beny Alagem |
| Headquarters | Nijmegen, Netherlands |
|
Area served
|
Europe, Africa |
| Products |
Desktops Laptops Netbooks Monitors Tablets |
| Parent | Acer Inc. (2008–present) |
| Website | packardbell.com |
Packard Bell is a Dutch-based computer manufacturing subsidiary of Acer. The brand name originally belonged to an American radio manufacturer, Packard Bell, founded by Herbert "Herb" A. Bell and Leon S. Packard in 1933. Some websites use 1926 as the founding date when Herbert Bell was an executive with Jackson Bell Company, Los Angeles, California. In 1986, Israeli investors bought the name for a newly formed personal computer manufacturing company producing discount computers in the United States and Canada. In 2000, Packard Bell, then a subsidiary of NEC, stopped its North American operations while remaining a leading brand in the European markets. In 2008 it was acquired by the Taiwanese consumer electronic firm Acer in the aftermath of its takeover of Gateway computers. Gateway products are now sold in the Americas and Asia, while Packard Bell products are sold in Africa, Europe and the Middle East.
The original Packard Bell name began in September 1933. Herbert Bell (birth name Herbert Anthony Zwiebel), former business partner of Jackson Bell Radio Company in Los Angeles, formed Packard Bell. Jackson Bell went into receivership that year due to financial problems. Jackson Bell was one of the few RCA licensed radio manufacturers on the west coast of the United States. Bell partnered with Leon S. Packard. In 1934, they marketed their first radio, the Model 35A (carryover from Jackson Bell). In 1935, Leon Packard sold his partnership to Herb Bell, being skeptical of its future. Herb Bell managed to obtain the RCA license for manufacturing superheterodyne radios. Based in Los Angeles, Packard Bell along with Hoffman Radio became well known regional makers of consumer electronics. Packard Bell ventured into television quickly due to the RCA royalty-free patents.
Packard Bell radios had a distinguishable styling: The tuning dial showed the call signs of American and Canadian radio stations west of the Rocky Mountains. The idea came from Bell's mother, who had trouble reading the tuning dial. Packard Bell was a family business: Herbert Bell's brothers Arthur, Albert, Elmer and Willard participated in major departments from design, manufacturing and marketing.
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Wikipedia