ELSA Technology

ELSA Technology Inc.
legal form	Incorporated
founding	2003
Seat	Taipei , Taiwan
Branch	Information technology , lighting

former ELSA site (today Sonnenweg business park)

In 1998 ELSA AG went public on the Neuer Markt .

The ELSA Technology Inc. ( Chinese 艾爾莎科技 , Pinyin Àiěrshā Keji ) was founded in 2003 and is now a manufacturer of graphics cards , motherboards and LED technology based in Taipei in the Republic of China (Taiwan) . The company's roots reach back to Germany. ELSA was originally the abbreviation for El ectronic S ysteme A achen.

history

founding

The company was founded on December 11, 1980 as "ELSA Gesellschaft für electronic Systeme mbH" by Klaus Langner and Andreas Steinkopf for the development of industrial electronics, especially for data communication, and was entered in the commercial register on January 9, 1981 with share capital of DM 20,000 registered at the district court of Aachen . The location at that time was in Würselen , before the move first to Stolberg and then to Monheimsallee in Aachen . The first approved modem that did not come from the former Deutsche Bundespost was developed by ELSA. It was the MicroLink 2400M model from 1988 and cost 1950 DM as a table model.

The electrical engineering student Theo Beisch , who worked under the name of " Beisch Elektronik " in the production of graphics accelerators in a student residence in Aachen, joined Langner and Steinkopf in 1986, which expanded the product portfolio to include computer graphics.

The products soon had a good reputation due to their high-quality technology, their reliability and excellent driver support, which helped the company to expand rapidly. From 1989 ELSA opened several branches in the USA, Taiwan and Japan.

ELSA was successful in both data communication and computer graphics. In the enterprise dial-up sector, modems, ISDN adapters and WLAN devices are worth mentioning. The main drivers of computer graphics were graphics cards and monitors. The Aachen-based manufacturer of computer accessories was able to record sales successes mainly because it offered the hardware with optimized software (drivers) for Windows operating systems at an early stage. The cost of software development often exceeded that of hardware development - both in terms of personnel and finances. Thanks to this industry-untypical approach, ELSA acquired a reputation as a quality manufacturer in the nineties. As a result of the company's focus on professional use, there were a disproportionately large number of test wins in the relevant German-language specialist media. Combined with intensive press support, this has resulted in consistent and media-driven business success for over a decade. The product names MicroLink (modem), LANCOM (Network Engineering), XHR, WINNER and GLADIAC (are particularly noteworthy at this point graphics cards () and ECOMO CAD - monitors ).

In 1995, Klaus Langner left the company in order to concentrate fully on setting up the Internet provider GINKO (later taken over by QSC ).

ELSA AG

8-port Gigabit Ethernet switch from LANCOM

The ELSA AG had to file for bankruptcy in 2002 after it had terminated the credit line several banks. From parts of the company, new companies emerged through management buyouts , such as B. devolo AG for the continuation of data communication products for end users or from Ralf Koenzen LANCOM Systems , which took over the professional telecommunication technology. In 2018, Rohde & Schwarz took over 100% of LANCOM and incorporated Rohde & Schwarz Cybersecurity GmbH into the newly established Networks & Cybersecurity division of Lancom Systems GmbH, which acts as an independent subsidiary.

On the other hand, new foundations by former employees such as B. AixSolve or neguTec.

New ELSA GmbH

From what was left of the company, Neue ELSA GmbH was founded in August 2002 by Theodor-Josef Beisch (Theo Beisch's cousin) and Falk W. Spahn, which had to struggle with financial difficulties from the start; at times one could not pay salaries for months. In addition, the insolvency administrator of the ("old") ELSA AG had sold the naming rights to Taiwanese investors in 2003, who then founded ELSA Technology Inc. in Taiwan . On November 27, 2003, Neue ELSA GmbH was fined for brand name abuse and was liquidated in 2004.

ELSA Technology GmbH

Almost simultaneously with the liquidation of Neue ELSA GmbH , the Taiwanese ELSA Technology Inc. founded ELSA Technology GmbH in Würselen as the company's European headquarters under the leadership of Olaf Liebelt and Franklin Chang. The product portfolio was almost exclusively limited to graphics cards. The ELSA Technology GmbH no longer exists now.

The company ELSA Technology Inc. is Taiwan still active. The product focus is now in the area of LED technology.