Guillemot Corporation
| Guillemot Corporation SA
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|---|---|
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| legal form | Société Anonyme |
| ISIN | FR0000066722 |
| founding | 1985 |
| Seat | Carentoir , France |
| management | Claude Guillemot (CEO) |
| Number of employees | 170 (2011) |
| sales | 60.8 million euros (2011) |
| Branch | Microelectronics , information technology |
| Website | www.guillemot.com |
The Guillemot Corporation is a in 1985 for the distribution of computer hardware based French companies . The seat is in Carentoir in the Morbihan department . The founders were the five Breton brothers Guillemot, Claude, Michel, Gérard, Yves and Christian, who a year earlier had opened a shop for computers and computer accessories under the name "Guillemot Informatique" in a fruit shed belonging to their parents' house . A short time later, she also founded on software specialized Parisian company Ubisoft. Today the company produces under the brand names Hercules ( DJ products, sound cards and wireless LAN products) and Thrustmaster ( consoles and PC accessories for video games ). It has been a member of the Wi-Fi Alliance since 2004 . The computer graphics card business was discontinued in 2003.
The German branch is based in Rothenberg near Fürth (Odenwald) .
Company history
Initially, the Guillemot brothers sold games from companies such as Electronic Arts , Sierra On-line or Microprose in France. At the end of the 1980s, they expanded to include Germany, the USA and Great Britain.
In the mid-1990s, the sound division with sound cards (Maxi Sound) from the Guillemot brand was introduced. In 1999 the Guillemot Corporation bought the US company Hercules and named their products Hercules 3D Prophet from then on. The range of products has been expanded to include speakers.
The portfolio was also expanded to include Voodoo graphics cards. After the economic problems of 3Dfx , Guillemot decided in 2000 to use Nvidia chips for their graphics cards and began to use TNT M64 and GeForce chips. At the end of 2001, TFT monitors were added to the product range. At the same time, Guillemot took over the US game input device manufacturer Thrustmaster .
At the beginning of 2001 there was a break with Nvidia and Guillemot decided to use the Kyro graphics chip from ST Micro . This resulted in the 3D Prophet 4000 and 3D Prophet 4500. Guillemot could not bring the successor 3D Prophet 4800, which had been announced several times, to the market. That is why Guillemot decided in 2002 to take on ATI Technologies as a chip supplier and started with the Radeon 7500 All in Wonder and Radeon 8500 All in Wonder.
Due to changes in the sales model, falling margins and internal restructuring, Guillemot stopped the graphics business in early 2003. While sales in the 1998/99 financial year amounted to 912.6 million francs and in 2000/2001 to 237.8 million euros, they fell to 60 million euros by the 2011 financial year. To compensate, the business area was expanded to include DJ products.
The main business is now divided into two brands: Hercules with DJ products, Pro-Sound and WLAN products and Thrustmaster with gaming accessories for PCs and game consoles.
Web links
- Official site of the Guillemot Corporation (English)
- Official website of the Hercules brand (German)
- The Guillemot brothers on Gamekult.com
Individual evidence
- ↑ Annual Results 1998/1999 at guillemot.com, accessed May 5, 2012
- ↑ Annual Net Sales in Line With Forecasts at guillemot.com, accessed May 5, 2012