ORION Radio and Electricity Company

At the beginning (from 1913), in addition to incandescent lamps, it was engaged in the production of dry batteries and other electrical items. The factory began producing radio sets on June 30, 1926, using the patent of the German Telefunken factory. In parallel with the production of radio sets, they also began producing and distributing radio components. In 1930, the export of Orion radio sets began. The idea of a people's radio first arose in 1936, but production could only begin in 1939. The company expanded its profile and began producing thermoses and medical glassware. In 1941, Orion was declared a military plant. After the end of the war, it received a serious order from the Soviet Union, entrusting it with the production of measuring instruments (signal generators, tube voltmeters) and the production of 10,000 portable radio sets. The company was nationalized in 1948. After nationalization, the government placed an order for 12,000 people's super radio sets. In 1951, the instrument factory became independent and the factory only produced radio sets. From 1958, devices mounted on printed circuit boards were manufactured. In 1955, the first TV receiver design was completed.

Orion established the production of microwave transmission technology and then computer technology equipment, ceasing or limiting the production of radios and, in the long term, TV sets. In order to keep up with developments, Orion also became familiar with the production of video recorders in cooperation with the Panasonic company.

Orion (Népradio) 115A (3-button version):The production of the type began in 1950. Wavebands, 3 fixed-tuned KH transmitters. Orion produced 500 thousand (half a million) Néprádiós from 1950 to 1957.

Orion 99 G:first music cabinet with record player. AC, luxury design. A combination of the 99 type, 4+5 tube top super radio and a high-quality electric gramophone, with built-in record storage.

Orion AR 306:It won a gold medal at the 1958 Brussels World Fair! This design has 7 tubes, four wavebands, and is suitable for receiving AM and FM broadcasts. It received international recognition for its modern, compact, and attractively designed device.

Orion AT 501:the first domestic mass-produced television. The device was marketed with 20 electron tubes and a 70-degree picture tube with a screen diameter of 43 cm. It allowed the reception of a single station, the transmitter operating only in the capital at that time. Its power consumption was 160 W, from a 220 Volt direct or alternating current network. In 1956, 2,177 units were produced.

Orion AT 302:It was the second device in Hungary to be manufactured since 1957, and was also suitable for radio and television reception. It incorporated a 43 cm diagonal, 70-degree (long) picture tube and a smaller, cheaper circuit containing only 12 radio tubes. The simple construction was made possible by a Hungarian tube patent, the enneode. 17,000 units were manufactured for domestic sales.

Orion AT 505 DUNA:The first large-screen device from the Orion factory. The AT 505 television was released with 14 vacuum tubes, a germanium diode, a selenium mains rectifier, a 53cm 90-degree picture tube and 10 OIR channels.

Orion AT 602:The super system device was released with 17 electron tubes, four germanium diodes, a selenium mains rectifier, and a 90-degree picture tube with a screen diameter of 43 cm. The television was also equipped with a remote control connector, with which the volume, brightness, and contrast could be controlled. This device used a tuning indicator for the first time in Hungary. The television also had sound and picture register switches.

In addition to the developments listed here, Orion also produced several excellent radios, televisions, record players and later hi-fi equipment. Nowadays, many types of household appliances, refrigerators and heaters, microwave ovens, MP3 players and car GPS are also produced under the Orion brand name. But televisions were still produced.

In 1917, the United Incandescent Lamp and Electricity Company took an interest in the Hungarian Tungsten Lamp Factory, which from that year continued to operate under the name Hungarian Tungsten Lamp Factory Kremeneczky János Rt. Later, János Kremeneczky bought back the shares from the United Incandescent Lamp, and in 1926 he merged his two companies under the name “Magyar Tungsten Lamp Kremeneczky János Rt.” In 1931, due to financial difficulties, Kremeneczky was forced to sell the shares of his Budapest factories to the United Incandescent Lamp. In 1947, the company took the name Orion Radio and Electricity Company, was nationalized a year later, and in 1949 was reorganized into a so-called national company. After the change of regime, Orion was among the first to be privatized in the early 1990s. The collapse of the EEC (Council for Mutual Economic Assistance) market put Orion in a difficult situation, and bankruptcy proceedings were initiated against it in 1991. The joint venture with the South Korean company Samsung and sales in its own store did not help either. In 1993, the struggling company was purchased from the Hungarian State Oil Company by Yuganskneftegaz, an affiliate of the Russian oil giant Yukos, and in 1997, TPL Investments Pte Ltd, a member of the Singaporean Thakral group, acquired a majority stake in it, which still produces TVs under the Orion brand name in its Jászberényi út plant today, mainly for export.

The legal predecessor of the Orion Radio and Electricity Company, the Hungarian Wolfram Lamp Factory, was founded on June 1, 1913, by János Kremeneczky, an Austrian businessman. In 1922, he also founded another company called Kremeneczky Elektromos Művek Rt. The commercial body of the Hungarian Wolfram Factory (Kremeneczky Elektromos Művek Rt) changed its name to Orion Villamossági Rt on October 1, 1924, and from 1925, all of its products were marketed under the ORION trademark, both domestically and abroad.

In June 1913, the Hungarian Wolfram Lamp Factory, the legal predecessor of Orion, was founded on the 4th floor of the building at 74 Váci Street, the Capital Electric Works.

The company expanded its profile in the 1930s. For this reason, the production of radio sets was moved to Újpestr at Váci út 77, and the Board of Directors was also relocated there. The repair of radio sets and the production of other items remained at Váci út 99.

The radio factory moved to Jászberényi Street in the 10th district in the summer of 1951.