() is a Japanese company in the
wireless communication
Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided medium for the transfer. The most ...
industry.
History
Uniden was established on February 7, 1966, by its founder Hidero Fujimoto as "Uni Electronics Corp". Uniden became a well-known brand in the 1970s by manufacturing and marketing millions of
citizens band radio
Citizens band radio (also known as CB radio), used in many countries, is a land mobile radio system, a system allowing short-distance person-to-many persons bidirectional voice communication among individuals, using two way radios operating on ...
s (CB), under the Uniden brand as well as many for popular private brand labels such as Clegg (amateur transceivers), Cobra, Craig, Fanon-Courier,
Midland (only certain clone models, originals were made by Cybernet), President, Teaberry, Stalker, Super Star, Teledyne-Olson, Pearce Simpson,
Realistic, Regency, Robyn and many European brands such as Zodiac, Stabo and Inno-Hit. Uniden also marketed CB Radios in the UK under the Uniden and Uniace brands during the late 1970s.
During the 1980s, Uniden grew to become the world's largest manufacturer of
cordless telephone
A cordless telephone or portable telephone has a portable telephone handset that connects by radio to a base station connected to the public telephone network. The operational range is limited, usually to the same building or within some short ...
s in addition to television satellite equipment, mobile radios, advanced
marine electronics and
radio scanners (the latter under brandname
Bearcat The bearcat, also known as the binturong, is a viverrine mammal from Southeast Asia.
Bearcat or bearkat may also refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Bearcats!'', a 1971 American TV series
* '' The Bearcat'', a 1922 film starring Hoot Gibson
* "Do the Be ...
).
In
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
, it became successful in the telecommunications market with its introduction of 900 MHz cordless telephones.
As Uniden continued to grow and extend its international operations, Uniden Australia and Uniden New Zealand were established in 1989.
Uniden's revenue has plummeted since smartphones and
VOIP
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also called IP telephony, is a method and group of technologies for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. The terms Internet t ...
solutions have become mainstream. In 2007, Uniden had a revenue of 77.7 billion yen. Just three years later in 2010, Uniden reported a revenue of just 35.5 billion yen.
Operation
As of 2018, current products include
cordless phones
A cordless telephone or portable telephone has a portable telephone handset that connects by radio to a base station connected to the public telephone network. The operational range is limited, usually to the same building or within some short ...
,
radar detectors
Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...
, radio scanners,
CB radios, and security/surveillance products.
At one point Uniden produced over two million wireless products every month and manufactures one cordless phone every 3.2 seconds. This statistic has become part of their company description used by many retailers and the date of the statistic is unknown. Despite the cordless phone's falling popularity, this claim still appears on Uniden Australia's website.
Uniden operates globally, but the main commercial activities are situated in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
and
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
. Manufacturing sites have been located in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
,
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...
,
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...
, and the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
. In 2008, Uniden began to move production from China to
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...
because of lower wages.
References
External links
— Uniden Global— Uniden Cellular Boosters
{{Japanese Electronics Industry
Electronics companies of Japan
Telecommunications companies based in Tokyo
Amateur radio companies
Marine electronics
Manufacturing companies based in Tokyo
Telecommunications companies established in 1966
1966 establishments in Japan
Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange
Japanese brands
Radio manufacturers