Dual (brand)


Dual is a brand name of audio and video electronics.

History

In 1907, brothers Christian and Joseph Steidinger began manufacturing clockwork and gramophone parts in the Black Forest town of St. Georgen. In 1927, Gebrüder Steidinger
adopted the name Dual in reference to the dual-mode power supplies it pioneered. The power supplies allowed gramophones to be powered from mains electricity or with a wind-up mechanism. Soon thereafter, Dual began producing turntables of its own.
After World War II, Dual became the biggest manufacturer of turntables in Europe, with more than 3,000 employees working in several factories. Throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, Dual introduced audio cassette players, VCRs, CD players, and other consumer electronics.
But when Japanese consumer electronics started entering European markets in the 1970s on a large scale, Dual as most other traditional German manufacturers underwent a big crisis: Japanese products usually offered more features at a cheaper price in a much more modern package. Dual went bankrupt in 1982, and was sold to French electronic manufacturer Thomson SA. In 1988, Thomson sold Dual to German manufacturer Schneider Rundfunkwerke AG.
In 1993/4, Dual was finally split off into