*** Welcome to piglix ***

Rakon

Rakon Limited
Electronics Manufacturer
Traded as NZX: RAK
Industry Frequency Control, Quartz Crystal, Electronics, GPS, Wireless
Founded 4 April 1967
Founder Warren Robinson
Headquarters Auckland, New Zealand
Number of locations
New Zealand, United Kingdom, France, India, China
Area served
Global
Products TCXO, OCXO, VCXO, Quartz crystal, Crystal oscillator
Revenue NZ$176.26m (April 2013)
Owner Public
Number of employees
Approximately 589 (January 2013)
Website www.rakon.com

Rakon Limited is a technology company founded in 1967 that designs and manufactures frequency control products, primarily quartz crystals and temperature-compensated crystal oscillators (TCXO), oven controlled crystal oscillators (OCXO) and voltage controlled crystal oscillators (VCXO). Its head office is in Auckland, New Zealand with wholly owned subsidiaries in the United Kingdom and France with joint venture operations in India and China. The company specialises in supplying frequency-control products to the GPS industry.

Rakon was founded on 4 April 1967 by Warren Robinson. Robinson had previously operated a business manufacturing marine radios, Marlin Electronics. These marine radios required between 6-12 quartz crystals with each region within New Zealand requiring a different set of frequencies.

The only source for these crystals was the NZPO (New Zealand Post Office), and delivery times were often measured in months, which was an ongoing problem for Robinson in his ability to supply his radios. Warren Robinson realising there was an opportunity to compete with the NZPO sold Marlin Electronics to Autocrat Radio and went on to found Rakon Industries (RIL) a few years later (1967). Initially, the New Zealand government blocked Robinson's application to import crystal manufacturing equipment as they didn't wish there to be undue competition to the post office, however by 1967 Robinson was able to secure an import license for the equipment and started manufacturing quartz crystals, in his garage, to supply the local radio market.

By supplying quality crystals on short lead-times, Rakon grew quickly, riding the wave of growth in the radio-communications industry. By 1971, Rakon had moved into its own premises and employed over 30 staff; it had also begun exporting the crystals to Australia and South East Asia. In 1972 Warren Robinson set up a second manufacturing plant in Singapore to supply the growing markets of Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines and Taiwan.


...
Wikipedia

...