Press and News - 08.02.2001

Stronger u-blox Presence in Germany

The Swiss company u-blox AG is strengthening its presence on the German market. This manufacturer of miniature electronic subsystems for GPS systems and embedded computing has now founded its first subsidiary in Germany, for better local support in this important market.

"We are now in the position to provide more customized services" says Hanns-Christian Wüstner, managing director of the new sales company u-blox Deutschland GmbH responsible for this market area.

"The German market is very important to us," reports Dr. Claus Habiger, u-blox board member responsible for marketing and sales. "Our strategic aim is to be a preferred supplier to the automobile industry with regard to fleet management and telecommunications applications. This demands a strong local presence for better identification of customer needs and faster response to market changes."

At the new company headquarters, strategically located in central Germany, Hanns-Christian Wüstner is building up his customer service, marketing and sales support team. "We can then give our distributors optimal support, and also play our role better in large projects such as the German energy tax system for commercial vehicles."

u-blox was founded in 1997 under Professor Trüster as a spin-off of the Electronics Institute at the ETH Zurich. Not long afterwards, the company already launched the world's smallest GPS receiver. This was followed by large orders from mobile telephone manufacturers and automobile suppliers. In connection with the Swiss energy tax on commercial vehicles (LSVA), u-blox was awarded a contract for GPS receivers as a key technology in electronic detection systems.

With 27 employees, u-blox sales for 2000 reached almost CHF 20 million worldwide. "The German market share in our overall business will be significantly higher in future", emphasizes Hanns-Christian Wüstner.

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