Lenco is a brand of audio and video equipment, originally used by the Swiss turntable manufacturer Lenco
AG from the 1940s until the 1980s. The name is now owned by Dutch concern Commaxx International NV.
The Swiss company
Lenco AG was founded in 1946 in
Burgdorf, Switzerland
Burgdorf (french: Berthoud; High Alemannic: ''Bùùrdlef'') is the largest city in the Emmental in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It was the capital of the district of the same name until 2010, when it became part of the new Emmental dist ...
by married couple Fritz and Marie Laeng. In 1925 Fritz had set up and run Radio Laeng, a shop selling and renting radios in complete and kit form.
The name Lenco was derived from their surname.
The firm initially produced a range of household products moulded in plastic and aluminium, before launching their first turntable in 1949 to take advantage of the, then new,
LP record format introduced by
Columbia Records.
From the mid-1950s Lenco supplied turntables for sale in other countries, initially under the name of a local commercial partner, including Bogen in the United States and
Goldring in the United Kingdom, later under its own name.
In 1961 Lenco opened a factory in
Osimo
Osimo is a town and ''comune'' of the Marche region of Italy, in the province of Ancona. The municipality covers a hilly area located approximately south of the port city of Ancona and the Adriatic Sea. , Osimo had a total population of 35,037. ...
, Italy, where it initially produced electric motors.
In the 1970s the Italian factory started to produce turntables and cassette decks.
The company grew to export its products to over eighty countries around the world.
The mid-1970s downturn in the global economy depressed the demand for high fidelity audio equipment. Coupled with increasing competition from products made in the Far East, Lenco's fortunes declined. Lenco AG Burgdorf was declared bankrupt in 1977, as successor company Lenco Audio AG took over repair, service and warranty duties for existing Lenco equipment until it folded in 1983.
Marie Laeng died in 1974 and Fritz Laeng in 1978.
Revival of the Lenco name
A German company named Horst Neugebauer KG acquired the Lenco name in 1984 and used it on a wide range of products including amplifiers imported from Korea, with limited commercial success.
In 1997 the name Lenco was acquired by the Lenco STL Group of Venlo in the Netherlands.
It was primarily used on low budget products imported from manufacturers in South East Asia.
In 2015 the company was bought by Commaxx International NV and the brand applied to internet radios, DAB+ radios, DVD players, TV sets and other audio equipment, including turntables.
See also
*
List of phonograph manufacturers
This is a list of phonograph manufacturers. The phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone, record player or turntable, is a device introduced in 1877 for the mechanical recording and reproduction of sound.
Phonograph manufacturer ...
References
{{reflist
Audio equipment manufacturers of the Netherlands
Phonograph manufacturers
Dutch brands
Manufacturing companies established in 1946
Companies based in Limburg (Netherlands)
1997 mergers and acquisitions
2015 mergers and acquisitions