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December 27, 1965 Electronics
 [Table of Contents]
Wax nostalgic about and learn from the history of early electronics.
See articles from Electronics,
published 1930 - 1988. All copyrights hereby acknowledged.
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This is the electronics market
prediction for Sweden, circa 1966. It was part of a comprehensive assessment by
the editors of Electronics magazine of the state of commercial, military,
and consumer electronics at the end of 1965. Among Sweden's modern-day most
recognizable electronics and related manufacturers are
Ericsson,
Saab Group and
Electrolux, in existence in
one form or another since 1965. Automotive company
Volvo is also among the
largest manufacturers there, although not specifically of electronics. A number of contemporary resources
are available for obtaining
reports (at a cost) on the electronics industry in almost every country on Earth.
Among them are "Consumer
Electronics in Sweden, August 2019" and "Electronics
Industry in Sweden June 2019."
Separate reports are included for
West Germany
(the Berlin Wall was still up then), the
United Kingdom,
France,
Denmark,
Austria,
Sweden,
Belgium,
Switzerland,
the Netherlands,
and Italy.
Russia, although
obviously not part of Europe, is also covered.
Sweden Electronics
Market Booming for Automatic Equipment
The Swedish electronics industry expects a 14% boost in domestic business next
year to $343 million, primarily because of a demand for automatic-control equipment
by manufacturing companies - a demand prompted by a labor shortage and salaries
that are the highest in Europe. The computer market is expected to expand to $40.6
million in 1966 from $35.4 million this year. The $40.6 million includes $4.8 million
worth of process control systems.
"Everyone is using electronics - in power, instrumentation and process control,"
says Stephen Finta, managing director of Nordiska Elektronik AB, which represents
a number of American electronics components manufacturers in Scandinavia.
The industrial business boost is expected to be large enough to offset a sharp
decline in military electronics, deepened by a two-year delay in production of the
Swedish Air Force's type-37 Viggen (Swedish for thunderbolt) aircraft. The new all-purpose
defensive aircraft is now scheduled for service in 1971.
Some other healthy business signs:
• The consumer market, with television sales predicted at $30 million, is up
$1.4 million over 1965. Most sales will be for replacement sets and will be made
by three firms - Svenska AB Philips, Luxor Industri AB and AGA AB. Next year, the
government is expected to announce the start of a second Swedish tv channel in 1968
and color telecasting in 1969.
• In communications, the major achievement will be the installation of an
electronic telephone switching system by the L.M. Ericsson Telephone Co. The system,
using space division, will serve 5,000 subscribers. Space division employs a separate
wire path for each conversation. In time division, logic gates sample several conversations
in rapid sequence, then switches connect pairs of telephones in sequence.
• The opening in Sweden, a country that imports most of its components,
of a semiconductor manufacturing plant by Societá Generale Semiconduttori,
of Italy in 1966.
Industrial growth
Saab Electronics, the civilian electronics sales division of the Swedish aircraft,
automobile and electronics manufacturer, is typical of a number of Swedish companies
moving fast to take advantage of industrial electronics growth. Jan Bakstrom, sales
manager of Saab Electronics, says his firm's "main line is to develop and market
products for automation for both Swedish and foreign industry."
In the process-control field, Saab has developed a system for automatic control
of dyeing machines in the textile industry. Saab is also selling a new line of equipment,
which can be controlled remotely by computers. Arenco Electronics AB, sees 1966
as the year of the big breakthrough for numerical control (NC) with between 50 and
100 systems being sold.
The industrial market is also being eyed by other firms, such as L.M. Ericsson.
Although concentrating on communications, the company is watching the industrial
control field, says Christian Jacobaeus, chief technical officer.
Military need slowing down
In addition to the delay in producing the type-37 Viggen aircraft, there's been
a general slowdown in the military market, according to Frank Hammar. Hammar is
the managing director of Standard Radio & Telefon AB, which is the Swedish subsidiary
of International Telephone and Telegraph Corp. "The order books are filled because
of previously heavy orders, but new military orders are down about one-third from
what they have been," he says. "We look at the future with some concern." He expects
Standard Radio's business to be up in 1966 though, partly because of its export
sales in air-traffic control equipment. The company recently delivered a traffic
control system to Arlanda International Airport outside Stockholm.
Spokesmen see no strong improvement next year in the price war in components,
which has affected the Swedish agents and the American, British, French and German
manufacturing companies which supply the market.
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