Description
Bose Corporation
is an American manufacturing company that predominantly sells audio equipment. The company was established by Amar Bose in 1964 and is based in Framingham, Massachusetts. Bose is best known for its home audio systems and speakers, noise-cancelling headphones, professional audio products and automobile sound systems. Bose has a reputation for being particularly protective of its patents, trademarks, and brands.
The majority owner of Bose Corporation is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, donated to MIT by the founder Amar Bose himself, which receives cash dividends through the non-voting shares donated by the founder in 2011. According to the company annual report in the 2019 financial year, Bose Corporation received revenue of US$4.0 billion and employed more than 9,000 people.
History
The company was founded in Massachusetts in 1964 by Amar Bose with angel investor funding, including Amar's thesis advisor and professor, Y. W. Lee. Amar's interest in speaker systems had begun in 1956 when he purchased a stereo system and was disappointed with its performance. The purpose of the company was to develop speaker systems which used multiple speakers aimed at the surrounding walls to reflect the sound and replicate the sound of a concert hall.
In 1966, the Bose 2201 became the first product sold by the company. It was an unusual design consisting of 22 speakers, with many of them facing away from the listener. The 2201 was designed to be located in the corner of a room, using reflections off the walls to increase the apparent size of the room. The 2201 was a failure in the market and was discontinued after three or four years.
After this experience, Amar came to the conclusion that the audio system measurement techniques of the time (such as measuring distortion and frequency response) were not effective ways to evaluate the goal of natural sound reproduction. Amar argued that the best measure of audio quality is the listener's perception. Also in 1968, the company introduced the Bose 901 stereo speaker system, which used eight mid-range drivers pointing towards the wall behind the speaker, and a ninth driver towards the listener. The purpose of this design was to achieve a dominance of reflected over direct sound in home listening spaces. The design used in the 901 is unconventional compared with most systems, where mid-range and high-frequency speakers directly face the listener. The 901 was an immediate commercial success, and Bose Corporation grew rapidly during the 1970s. The Bose 901 model name was a mainstay of the Bose line-up for many years, being produced from 1968 until 2016.
In 1991, a team of Bose researchers debunked a 1989 experiment that claimed to have created energy through cold fusion.
The first Bose retail store was opened in 1993 in Kittery, Maine. Bose announced it would close all of its retail stores in North America, Europe, Japan, and Australia in 2020, but would keep open another 130 stores in India, Southeast Asia, South Korea, China, and the United Arab Emirates.
In 2011, then-chairman and primary stockholder Amar Bose donated the majority of the firm's non-voting shares to his former employer and alma mater, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. An annual cash dividend is paid out to "advance the research and education mission of MIT". However, the conditions of receiving the shares stated that MIT was not allowed to sell them, nor was MIT permitted to participate in the company's management and governance. Following Amar Bose's death in 2013, Bob Maresca became the Chief Executive Officer.
In June 2016, Bose and Flex manufacturing extended their strategic partnership. Bose operations in Malaysia and Mexico will transfer to Flex.
At the end of 2017, Maresca stepped down as CEO and Bose President Phil Hess took the position. Maresca remained Chairman of the Board however.
In January 2020, Bose announced that they would be closing all their more than 100 retail stores in North America, Japan, Europe, and Australia. They will retain their online presence on their own website, as well as on Target, Best Buy, and Amazon
In late January 2020, President and COO Jim Scammon replaced Phil Hess at the helm.
In August 2020, Bose named their first female CEO, Lila Snyder, who was formerly an executive at Pitney Bowes. Snyder, who will take her position September 2020, is an MIT alumna, having earned her master’s and Ph.D. degrees in mechanical engineering there.
