A BRIEF HISTORY    

Production details of recorders
  • TB 1 (1952-54)
  • TB 1 H (1953-54)
  • TB 2 (1954-61)
  • TB 2 T
  • TB 2 HI FI (1956-57)
    First 3 speed
  • TB 3 B (1957-60)
  • TB 3 STEREO (1957-58)
    First stereo
  • TB 4 STEREO QUADRUPLE (1959-61)
  • TB 5 STEREO QUADRUPLE (1958-60)
  • TB 6 (1960-66)
  • TB 6 X (1966-68)
    First with "Crossfield"
  • TB 7 (1962-64)
  • TB 7 B (1964-65)
  • TB 8 (1962-68)
  • TB 9 (1963-68)
  • TB 10 (1964-68)
  • TB 11 (1967-)
    Portable professional
  • TB 12 (1966-68)
  • TB 1200 X (1968-70)
  • TB 13 (1967)
  • TB 14 (1968-75)
  • TB 15 (1968-75)
  • TB 1600 X (1969-70)
  • TB 1700 (1970)
  • TB 1800 (1970)
  • TB 2000
  • TB 3000 X
  • TB 3300 X (1973-74)
  • TB 3400 X (1973-75)
  • TB 3500 X (1975)
  • TB 3600 XD (1975)
  • TB 4000 X (1971-74)
  • TB 5000
  • TB 6000 X (1969-72)
  • TB 7000
  • TB 9000 X (1972-74)
  • TB 9100 X (1974-76)
  • TB 9200 XD (1974)
  • TB 10 X (1977)
  • TB 10 XD (1975-76)
  • TD 20
  • TD 20 A (1978)

    • Vebjorn Tandberg was born in Bodo, a small town in the northern part of Norway, in 1904. As a boy he developed an interest in radios, and later studied at a technical university. He graduated in 1930 as an electronic engineer in Trondheim and founded Tandbergs Radiofabrikk (Tandberg's radio factory) in Oslo in 1933.
     
    The first radio was named "Tommeliten", and used only earphones. This was followed by the "Corona" (with loudspeaker.)

    In 1934 the first "Huldra" radio was launched, followed in 1936 by the "Sølvsuper". During the early years, radios, loudspeakers and microphones were the main output from the factory. The Sølvsuper and the Huldra radios became the foundation for Tandberg's success.
     
    A new plant at Kjelsas (in Oslo) opened in 1951 and by 1952 the production of reel to reel tape recorders had begun. During the 1950's these became a great success for Tandberg. Their share of the Norwegian market was large; by 1956 40,000 tape recorders had been sold, and most of these came from Tandbergs Radiofabrikk. Tandberg became synonymous with advanced technology at a reasonable price, especially in the USA.  "Cross-field" recording technique is a Tandberg-innovation from the 60's, although AKAI and ROBERTS used it as well. The factory started manufacturing TV sets from 1960. The plant at Kjeller in Skedsmo was built in 1966 with production of color TV's from 1969.

     

    The Radionette-company, another big Norwegian radio and TV manufacturer, was taken over by Tandberg in 1972. The total number of employees was now 2000, which had increased to 3100 at 7 plants in 1976. Unfortunately that same year produced a large negative economic downturn, and the economic disaster continued until bankruptcy in December 1978. In late August same year Vebjorn Tandberg tragically comitted suicide at the age of 74.
     
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