Tektronix Communications history

They called their company Tekrad, which was incorporated on January 2, 1946.

In 1947 Tektronix had sales of $27,000.

In 1948 Tektronix also sold its first oscilloscope overseas, to the L. M. Ericcson Telephone Company of Sweden.

By 1955, the 530 Series accounted for half the oscilloscopes sold by Tektronix.

1956 The company assumes the leading position in the oscilloscope market.

Despite significant growth under Davis and the formation of the company’s first foreign subsidiaries, by 1962, Vollum was persuaded to re-assume control.

In 1964 Tektronix developed a way to retain an image on a cathode ray tube (CRT) for up to 15 minutes, instead of the split second that images normally lasted before they needed to be regenerated.

Unfortunately, the first terminals, introduced in 1970, were over-engineered and costly.

Vollum recovered, but he resigned as president in 1972.

“Tektronix Cofounder City’s ‘1st Citizen,’ “Portland Oregonian, February 2, 1974.

For years, Tektronix had been the largest employer in Oregon, with a high of more than 24,000 employees in 1981.

In 1982 competitors had begun offering fully integrated CAE work stations, which threatened the market for Tektronix’s stand-alone graphics terminals and electronic testing equipment.

In 1984 Business Week reported: “Now Tek must come from behind again, in what is likely to be the most critical recoup in its 38-year history,” as the company belatedly entered the market for computer-aided engineering (CAE) work stations.

Early in 1985 Tektronix acquired CAE Systems Inc.

Lee, Marshall M., Winning with People: The First 40 Years of Tektronix, Beaverton, OR: Tektronix, Inc., 1986.

David Friedley, a marketing-oriented Tektronix division manager, succeeded Wantland as president in November of 1987.

In September of 1990 the board of directors adopted an anti-takeover “poison pill,” which entitled existing shareholders to purchase stock at half price if an investor acquired more than 20 percent of the company’s stock.

New sales were up for the first time in four years, $1.302 billion compared to $1.297 billion in 1992.

In 1998, the company voluntarily recalled 60,000 of its oscilloscopes after it was discovered that incorrect use of the product could cause the ground connection to fail, which in turn could cause serious injury or death.

In June 1999, the company made a bold move when it announced that it would split itself into two major divisions—a unit focused on color printers and another on its test and measurement equipment.

During 2005, the company continued to reap the benefits of the Inet deal when a slowdown in demand for the company's test and measurement equipment threatened to weaken sales and profits.