Ericsson

About the Company

Ericsson — Swedish Reel-to-Reel Tape Recorder Manufacturer

Company: L.M. Ericsson (Telefonaktiebolaget L.M. Ericsson)
Country: Sweden
Active in Reel-to-Reel Production: Late 1940s – mid-1960s
Market Focus: Telecommunications, dictation, laboratory, institutional, limited broadcast
Reputation: Precision engineering; reliability over consumer hi-fi performance

Company Background

• L.M. Ericsson, founded in 1876, was one of the world’s leading telecommunications companies.

• Its expertise lay in:
  Telephony
  Signal transmission
  Switching systems
  Precision electromechanical engineering

• Ericsson’s involvement in magnetic tape recording arose from professional and technical needs, not from the consumer hi-fi market.

Entry into Reel-to-Reel Tape Recording (Late 1940s)

• Ericsson began producing reel-to-reel tape machines in the late 1940s, primarily for:
  Telephone message recording
  Dictation systems
  Research and laboratory use
  Government and institutional clients

• These machines were never aimed at mass-market home users.

Early characteristics:

• Mono

• Valve (tube) electronics

• Full-track recording

• Tape speeds optimized for speech intelligibility

• Robust, industrial construction

• Modular design for serviceability

1950s: Professional and Institutional Machines

• During the 1950s, Ericsson produced a range of tape recorders used by:
  Telephone exchanges
  Broadcasting support services
  Universities and laboratories
  Government agencies

• Machines emphasized:
  Long-term reliability
  Stable tape transport
  Consistent frequency response for voice

Typical features:

• 7″ reels (occasionally larger on specialized units)

• Heavy cast or machined chassis

• External amplifier modules

• Often rack-mountable or console-mounted

• Compatibility with logging and repeat-play systems

Ericsson machines were functionally closer to broadcast logging recorders than consumer tape decks.

Early 1960s: Transition and Specialization

• In the early 1960s, Ericsson:
  Introduced solid-state (transistorized) electronics in some models
  Continued to refine tape transports for continuous operation

• Stereo recording was not a priority, and most Ericsson machines remained mono, optimized for speech.

• Ericsson increasingly focused on integrated dictation and telephony systems, rather than standalone tape recorders.

End of Reel-to-Reel Production

• By the mid-1960s, Ericsson:
  Phased out general reel-to-reel tape recorder production
  Shifted to more specialized recording technologies
  Integrated magnetic recording into complete telecom systems rather than selling tape decks as products

• Consumer hi-fi reel-to-reel machines were never part of Ericsson’s strategy.

Market Position

Ericsson tape machines occupied a professional and institutional niche, comparable to:

• Telefunken (broadcast equipment)

• Siemens (industrial recorders)

• Brüel & Kjær (measurement recording)

They did not compete with brands such as:

• Revox

• Tandberg

• Akai

• Sony

Legacy

• Ericsson reel-to-reel machines are:
  Rare
  Mostly found in institutional collections or technical museums

• They are valued for:
  Exceptional mechanical reliability
  Precision engineering
  Historical importance in telecommunications recording

• They are not audiophile music machines, but are highly respected as industrial artifacts.

Summary

Ericsson was a Swedish manufacturer of reel-to-reel tape recorders primarily for telecommunications, dictation, and institutional use from the late 1940s through the mid-1960s. Its machines emphasized reliability, speech clarity, and continuous operation rather than consumer hi-fi performance. Although largely absent from the domestic audio market, Ericsson played an important role in the professional and technical evolution of magnetic tape recording.