Gericom
Encyclopedia
Gericom was an Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

n computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...

 equipment manufacturer, based in Linz
Linz
Linz is the third-largest city of Austria and capital of the state of Upper Austria . It is located in the north centre of Austria, approximately south of the Czech border, on both sides of the river Danube. The population of the city is , and that of the Greater Linz conurbation is about...

, Upper Austria
Upper Austria
Upper Austria is one of the nine states or Bundesländer of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders on Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as on the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, and Salzburg...

. The company was bought by Quanmax, Inc and subsequently converted to Quanmax AG.

History

The company was founded in 1990 by Hermann Oberlehner and went public as Gericom AG in 2000.

Gericom products were initially sold via chains such as Media Markt
Media Markt
Media Markt is a German chain of stores selling consumer electronics with numerous branches throughout Europe. It is Europe's largest retailer of consumer electronics.-History:...

 and Saturn
Saturn (store)
Saturn is a German chain of electronics stores, now found in several European countries. Saturn sells household appliances, home entertainment, and media such as CDs and DVDs. With Media Markt it constitutes MediaSaturn Holding, owned by the German retail trade company METRO...

. In 1998 a webshop was established, and later Gericom products were also sold in supermarkets such as Aldi
ALDI
ALDI Einkauf GmbH & Co. oHG, doing business as ', short for "Albrecht Discount", is a discount supermarket chain based in Germany...

, Hofer
Hofer
Hofer like Höfer is a German surname derived from Hof which may refer to:This name is used for the Aldi Süd locations in Austria and Slovenia...

 or Lidl
Lidl
Lidl is a discount supermarket chain based in Germany that operates over 7,200 stores across Europe. The company's full name is Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG...

. The company was mostly popular in German-speaking countries of Europe.

A range of Gericom PC and laptop
Laptop
A laptop, also called a notebook, is a personal computer for mobile use. A laptop integrates most of the typical components of a desktop computer, including a display, a keyboard, a pointing device and speakers into a single unit...

s have been marketed for a few years via Aldi
ALDI
ALDI Einkauf GmbH & Co. oHG, doing business as ', short for "Albrecht Discount", is a discount supermarket chain based in Germany...

 in England, high specification and a long support offer, the laptops are with Intel Centrino
Centrino
The Centrino brand represents Intel Wi-Fi and WiMAX adapters. It was formerly a platform-marketing initiative from Intel until January 7, 2010....

 mobile technology.

In 2004, Gericom planned to sell nearly 25% of its shares to German computer manufacturer Medion
Medion
Medion AG is a German consumer electronics company. It operates in Europe, the United States, and the Asia-Pacific region. The main products are computers and notebooks, but also TVs, refrigerators, toasters, and fitness equipment. The company is becoming popular in Europe but has had mixed success...

, but the deal was later aborted by Gericom's founder Hermann Oberlehner.

Since 2007, sales figures of Gericom products dropped dramatically, issued stocks lost 93% of value between 2003 and 2008. The drastic decrease in sales was often pulled together with quality of Gericom products, that had deteriorated over the years. Gericom products often got very negative test results by computer magazines, often being the last one in comparison tests. In 2008, the annual revenue had dropped to 30 million Euro.

In 2008 the majority of Gericom's company shares was bought by Taiwanese computer manufacturer Quanmax, Inc. Gericom AG was then renamed to Quanmax AG, whose shares continue to be sold at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange
Frankfurt Stock Exchange
The Frankfurt Stock Exchange is the world's 12th largest stock exchange by market capitalization. Located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange is owned and operated by Deutsche Börse, which also owns the European futures exchange Eurex and the clearing company...

in Germany. Quanmax AG experienced significant growth and generated a revenue of about 60 million Euro and employed over 150 people in 2009. Quanmax AG is developing its own products indepently from its Taiwanese owner.
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