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The Story Of Bose – A Company Which Changed Sound Forever

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The Story Of Bose - A Company Which Changed Sound Forever

We live in a world where it feels like we are missing a part of us when we forget our earphones or headphones.  Portable sound systems and sound systems in particular have become an integral part of our lives and contribute to enhancing our quality of life.  From taking calls to listening to music a sound system is a must have accessory and Bose  reinvented how sound is perceived with their high quality sound systems and accessories.  Bose is one of the largest manufacturers in the audio industry space along with JBL and Sennheiser.  Let us look at the story of how Bose came to be what it is today.

Beginnings:

Bose was founded by Amar Bose in 1964 in Massachusetts, U.S.A. He began his career as an academic engineer at MIT in the late 1950s, licensing power conversion and amplification technology to the U.S. military and government agencies such as NASA.   Amar Bose had an interest in speaker systems and was piqued when he purchased an audio system ,in 1956 and was disappointed by its performance.  Amar Bose began thinking about a good quality sound system along with his thesis advisor and professor Y.W. Lee.  They fit a human -shaped mannequin with microphones where a person’s ears would be and placed it in different positions around the concert hall.  The idea was to record what live music would sound like to a person.  The purpose of the company was to develop speaker systems which used multiple speakers aimed at the surrounding walls to reflect the sound and replicate the sound of a concert hall.

The first product Bose engineered was the Bose 2201 in 1966.  The design was unusual and unconventional and consisted of 22 speakers, with many of them facing away from the listener.  The 2201 was designed to be located in the corner of a room, using reflections off the walls to increase the apparent size of the room.   This was a failure and was discontinued after four years on the market.  This led Amar to the conclusion that the audio system measurement techniques of his time were not effective ways to evaluate the goal of natural sound reproduction.  Amar instead argued the best way of measuring the audio quality is the listeners perception.  

ALSO READ: Maggi: The Story Of The Simple Noodles Which Became An Iconic Indian Snack

Growth

In 1968, the company introduced the Bose 901 stereo speaker system, which used eight mid-range drivers pointing towards the wall behind the speaker, and a ninth driver towards the listener. The purpose of this design was to achieve a dominance of reflected over direct sound in home listening spaces.  The Bose 901 Stereo system was an immediate commercial success.  The Bose 901 model name was a mainstay of the Bose line up for many years, being produced from 1968 until 2016.  

Bose being a privately owned company gave Amar Bose the freedom to sink profits into research.  This contributed to some wonders which now might seem normal like the noise cancelling headphones and audio systems in cars.  The first noise canceling headphones took $50 million and more than a decade of work.  The technology not only led to the successful Quiet Comfort line of consumer noise canceling headphones, and a special line for pilots and NFL coaches.  Bose also installed the first audio system custom built for the interior of a production car, the 1983 Cadillac Seville.

Bose is now a mainstay in the audio industry as it has a presence in almost every imaginable part of our lives which require the use of an audio system.  In 2011,the then chairman and primary stockholder Amar Bose donated the majority of the firm’s non voting shares to his former employer and alma mater, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.   

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Entrepreneur Stories

From Digital Wallet to Stock Market: MobiKwik Expands Its Horizons with New Brokerage Venture

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From Digital Wallet to Stock Market: MobiKwik Expands Its Horizons with New Brokerage Venture

MobiKwik is venturing into the stock broking sector with the launch of its subsidiary, MobiKwik Securities Broking Private Limited (MSBPL), following approval from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs on March 3, 2025. This move aims to diversify MobiKwik’s offerings beyond its core digital payments services and compete with established players like Zerodha and Groww.

MSBPL will provide a range of brokerage services, including trading in shares, securities, commodities, and derivatives. The subsidiary has an initial capital of Rs 1 lakh, with plans for an additional Rs 2 crore investment to support its operations.

As MobiKwik enters this competitive market, it brings a substantial user base of 172 million and a merchant network of 5 million. Despite recent financial challenges, including a reported loss of Rs 55.2 crore in Q3 FY25, the company aims to leverage its existing infrastructure and user engagement to capture a share of the growing investment technology market, projected to reach $74 billion by 2030.

This strategic expansion aligns with MobiKwik’s broader goals of enhancing its financial service

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Entrepreneur Stories

Strategic Shift: Nazara Sells Entire Stake in Sports Unity Amid Financial Challenges

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Strategic Shift: Nazara Sells Entire Stake in Sports Unity Amid Financial Challenges

Nazara Technologies has sold its entire 71.54% stake in Sports Unity Private Limited, the company behind the multiplayer quiz game ‘Qunami’, for INR 7.15 lakh. This divestment, effective March 25, 2025, signifies a strategic shift for Nazara, which had previously acquired a controlling interest in Sports Unity in 2019 for INR 7.5 crore.

The decision to offload the stake comes as Sports Unity has faced financial difficulties, reporting no active business operations and a negative net worth of INR 0.45 crore at the end of FY24. This move aligns with Nazara’s broader strategy to streamline its operations and concentrate on more profitable ventures within the gaming sector.

This sale follows Nazara’s recent divestment of a 94.85% stake in another subsidiary, Open Play, to Moonshine Technologies for INR 104.33 crore. Despite reporting record quarterly revenue of INR 544.7 crore in Q3 FY25, Nazara experienced a 53.5% decline in net profit year-over-year.

Nazara continues to focus on enhancing its portfolio through strategic acquisitions and investments in high-potential gaming platforms while navigating the competitive landscape of the gaming industry.

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Inverstors Stories

Fractal Invests $20 Million in Asper.ai to Accelerate AI Solutions for Consumer Goods

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Fractal Invests $20 Million in Asper.ai to Accelerate AI Solutions for Consumer Goods

Fractal, a leading SaaS unicorn, has announced a strategic investment of $20 million in Asper.ai, an AI-driven platform focused on the consumer goods and manufacturing sectors. This funding, revealed on March 19, 2025, aims to accelerate Asper’s growth by enhancing product development and expanding its enterprise customer base.

Investment Highlights

Pranay Agrawal, Co-Founder and CEO of Fractal, expressed excitement about the partnership, noting Asper’s impressive growth over the past three years. He stated that this investment will unlock new opportunities for enterprise customers and drive further innovation within Asper.

Asper.ai’s Objectives

Mohit Agarwal, Co-Founder and CEO of Asper.ai, emphasized the need for consumer goods leaders to have a strategic ally that can adapt to their operations and transform data into actionable insights. The investment will support Asper in building its autonomous growth AI platform and attracting top talent.

Future Plans

Anuj Kaushik, Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer of Asper.ai, highlighted the positive market response to their offerings. With Fractal’s investment, Asper.ai plans to enhance its AI capabilities across key areas like demand forecasting and revenue growth management.

Conclusion

Fractal’s $20 million investment marks a significant step in advancing AI solutions within the consumer goods sector. The collaboration between Fractal and Asper.ai is set to redefine how businesses leverage AI for growth and efficiency in a competitive landscape.

 

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