Rohde & Schwarz in brief

For more than 80 years, Rohde & Schwarz has stood for quality, precision and innovation in all fields of wireless communications. The company is strategically based on four pillars: test and measurement, broadcast and media, secure communications, radiomonitoring and radiolocation. Thanks to this strategy, the company can address diverse market segments, including wireless communications, the broadcasting and electronics industry, aerospace and defense, homeland security and critical infrastructures. The electronics group, headquartered in Munich (Germany), is among the world market leaders in all of its business fields. Rohde & Schwarz is the world's leading manufacturer of wireless communications and EMC test and measurement equipment, as well as of broadcasting and T&M equipment for digital terrestrial television. The Executive Board is made up of Manfred Fleischmann (Chairman), Christian Leicher and Peter Riedel.

As an independent, family-owned company, Rohde & Schwarz generates its growth from its own resources. Since the company does not have to think in quarters, it can plan for the long term. On June 30, 2014, Rohde & Schwarz had approximately 9800 employees with about 5900 working in Germany. The company achieved a net revenue of EUR 1.75 billion in the 2013/2014 fiscal year (July to June).

A company with a global presence

To be always close to the customer, Rohde & Schwarz has an extensive service and sales network in over 70 countries. Exports account for slightly more than 90 percent of revenues. In addition to the Munich headquarters, there are regional headquarters in Singapore and in Columbia (Maryland, US).

Rohde & Schwarz is a high-tech company that thrives on innovations. To maintain its high quality standards, Rohde & Schwarz keeps almost the entire value-added chain within the company. Central R&D is located at company headquarters, but the company maintains development centers outside Germany as well. The centers in the US, Korea, China, Denmark, France and Great Britain implement applications that are tailored to the requirements of local customers. Engineers at the Singapore site develop products for the world market. Asia and the US are especially important growth markets for the company. The focus is therefore on rapidly expanding these two development locations.

Since its founding, the company's philosophy has been to have development and production close to each other. That is why most products are manufactured close to the Munich headquarters at the Rohde & Schwarz plants in Memmingen, Teisnach and Vimperk (Czech Republic). Production facilities in Singapore and Malaysia ensure that production is close to the company's R&D activities at the Asian headquarters. Rohde & Schwarz has also been manufacturing broadcast transmitters for the local market in China since 2010 and in Brazil since late 2012.

Employees as a driving force

Thanks to its highly qualified employees, Rohde & Schwarz ranks among the technology leaders in all of its business fields. The corporate culture is characterized by flat hierarchies and a family-type atmosphere. Rohde & Schwarz sets great store by identifying and promoting young talent in-house as early as possible, and usually selects people from inside the company for management and leadership positions.

More than 600 in-house training courses are offered per year, reflecting the importance that Rohde & Schwarz attaches to continuing education. The company is also committed to vocational training. In Germany, Rohde & Schwarz has prepared more than 4500 young people for professional life since 1934. The company trains them to become electronics technicians, IT specialists and industrial administrators, for example. The Azubi Goes Bachelor program provides trainees the opportunity to complete a combined vocational training/degree program at Rohde & Schwarz.

Rohde & Schwarz focuses on people. This is reflected in the company's low personnel turnover rate. The company was ranked the second most popular employer in Germany in a 2014 Trendence survey institute study of communications engineering students. Rohde & Schwarz also took second place in the electronics and electrical engineering category of a 2014 ranking of "Germany's Best 370 Employers" by Focus news magazine.

The Business Fields

T&M equipment for wireless communications, general-purpose electronics and microwave

One out of every two mobile phones or smartphones in the world is developed and produced using T&M equipment from Rohde & Schwarz. LTE FDD and TD-LTE networks are already operating in Europe, the US and Asia. The company's test and measurement equipment for LTE and LTE‑Advanced makes a decisive contribution to the success of 4G technologies. Rohde & Schwarz is already researching test solutions for the next generation of wireless communications (5G). The company covers almost all mobile radio and wireless technologies, from UMTS/HSP(+), CDMA2000 to Bluetooth, Near Field Communication (NFC), GPS/Galileo and WLAN.

Regardless of the technology, Rohde & Schwarz offers a complete product portfolio for the development and production of chipsets, mobile terminal equipment and base stations. Network operators rely on Rohde & Schwarz products in the planning, setup, monitoring and optimization of their networks. SwissQual AG has been a part of the Rohde & Schwarz group since the summer of 2012. The company is one of the leading providers of systems for testing and assessing the quality of service (QoS) in wireless communications networks. Together with its ipoque and SwissQual subsidiaries, Rohde & Schwarz is the only company that offers single-source T&M solutions for the entire lifecycle of a wireless communications network.

The company also supports manufacturers of electronic devices wherever signals need to be generated and spectra or networks analyzed – from the audio range up to high microwave frequencies such as those used for directional radio. For the aerospace and defense industry, Rohde & Schwarz develops test and measurement solutions for radar and satellite communications systems. In addition, the company provides complete systems for EMC and field strength testing, for example to detect electromagnetic disturbance in automotive electronics. Rohde & Schwarz also offers its T&M expertise to the automotive industry in various fields from information and driver assistance systems to audio and video components and in‑vehicle wireless communications equipment.

Oscilloscopes are still a very new segment for Rohde & Schwarz, and the company is continuing to expand this portfolio. Hameg Instruments GmbH, a Rohde & Schwarz subsidiary, also offers oscilloscopes. The Hameg T&M portfolio rounds out the Rohde & Schwarz product line in the lower price range. Hameg and Rohde & Schwarz have bundled their general purpose measuring instruments under the Value Instruments label. New T&M products from Hameg have been marketed under the Rohde & Schwarz logo since June 2014.

Broadcast and media

Almost all analog transmitter networks have now been replaced by digital terrestrial broadcasting. Rohde & Schwarz has shaped and contributed to this development from the very beginning. The company has been active in the field of TV and sound broadcasting for almost 70 years. Today, Rohde & Schwarz transmitters and T&M equipment are in use for analog and digital television in more than 80 countries.

As the market leader for digital terrestrial television, Rohde & Schwarz supports the world's most widely distributed digital broadcasting standards. In North America for example, the company offers equipment for ATSC Mobile DTV, in Asia and Latin America for ISDB-T, and in Europe for DVB-T2.

The company also sells T&M equipment for the installation, maintenance and monitoring of broadcast networks. Satellite and cable TV providers also find suitable T&M solutions at Rohde & Schwarz. The company supplies manufacturers of consumer electronics with the T&M equipment they need for the development and production of satellite receivers and TV sets, including the new generation. Every second set-top box in the world is tested using Rohde & Schwarz T&M equipment.

However, Rohde & Schwarz now focuses on more than just transmitters and T&M equipment. The company is becoming a solutions provider for the entire broadcast value-added chain from ingest to post production and transmission. It offers an entire product line to support the broadcast industry in rolling out the high‑resolution 4K standard. The company's 4K know‑how originally came from subsidiary Rohde & Schwarz DVS GmbH. DVS develops hardware and software for professional film and video post production. As a global market leader in digital film processing, DVS opened the door to the field of studio equipment for Rohde & Schwarz. The company expanded its presence in this market with the addition of A/V headends in 2012.

Secure communications for armed forces, government authorities and industry

Military, government and civil authorities must be able to exchange information efficiently and securely. This is crucial for the success of national and international operations. Rohde & Schwarz supplies interoperable radiocommunications systems for deployment on land, at sea and in the air. In 2012, the company introduced its new generation of software defined radios (SDR) to the market with the release of the R&S SDTR. Rohde & Schwarz is now working intensively on expanding the SDR family. The company is also developing a SDR base unit for the German Armed Forces' future joint radio system (SVFuA).

More than 200 airports around the world use Rohde & Schwarz radiocommunications systems for air traffic control (ATC). The company has also added voice communications systems to its ATC portfolio. They are based on a product from Rohde & Schwarz Topex SA, which allows the company to offer complete, IP-based single-source system solutions, from the microphone at the controller working position to the radio system antenna. R&S Systems GmbH develops and integrates turnkey special-purpose systems (e.g. mobile towers) for ATC and puts them into operation at customer locations. The Rohde & Schwarz subsidiary creates customer-specific solutions from standard products.

Rohde & Schwarz SIT GmbH has been supplying crypto products and IT security solutions to industry and government agencies worldwide for over 20 years. The Rohde & Schwarz subsidiary is a NATO supplier and, since 2004, security partner of the Federal Republic of Germany. In addition to high‑security encryptors for governments and the armed forces, the company's product portfolio includes solutions for tap‑proof voice calls on smartphones and PCs, encrypted Internet and network data transmission and electronic identity security.

To further ensure future success, Rohde & Schwarz is intensifying its investments in the cybersecurity market. The new subsidiary gateprotect GmbH, acquired in July 2014, will enhance the electronics group's expertise in network security. Rohde & Schwarz also plans to strengthen its position in cybersecurity in the B2B segment.

Frequency management and radiolocation for homeland and external security

Although the frequency spectrum is limited, mobile wireless data exchange is increasing drastically. Mobile telephony and radio for security authorities and organizations, navigation systems and broadcasting must operate smoothly. Rohde & Schwarz develops portable, mobile and stationary systems for detecting, locating and analyzing radiocommunications signals. Rohde & Schwarz system solutions meet all of the relevant requirements and recommendations of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) – the United Nations (UN) agency responsible for regulating the use of the frequency spectrum.

In many cases, threat scenarios can be identified early on through radio intelligence. Rohde & Schwarz provides the services in charge with solutions for identifying and locating suspicious communications activities. The company's receivers, direction finders, signal analyzers, antennas and customized systems have been used in homeland and external security for many decades.

Satellite monitoring also plays an important role at Rohde & Schwarz. Solutions include stationary and mobile systems for use on the ground, at sea and in the air. They enable government agencies worldwide to gain insight into satellite-based voice and data communications. In this field, Rohde & Schwarz is supported by its French subsidiary Arpège SAS, which implements satellite monitoring systems in close collaboration with Munich headquarters.

ipoque GmbH adds IP network analysis to the Rohde & Schwarz portfolio. The subsidiary's leading solutions enable network operators to analyze traffic on their networks and improve their service quality.

Services

Rohde & Schwarz offers a worldwide service network and provides 24-hour support. Rohde & Schwarz services are completely tailored to customer requirements. In addition to calibration, maintenance, product upgrades and on-site services, the company also offers its customers tailored training courses.

Rohde & Schwarz regional service centers, production plants and specialized subsidiaries provide a wide range of additional services. This includes support for special applications, the development of customer-specific instruments, manufacturing to order, and the integration, installation and putting into operation of systems. For example, Rohde & Schwarz subsidiary Gedis GmbH specializes in automatic test equipment (ATE) for testing electronic assemblies and modules. Its product portfolio ranges from compact manual test systems to turnkey, automatic in-line systems.

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