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ADC Telecommunications is a communications company located in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, a southwest suburb of Minneapolis.


In 1935, Ralph Allison founded the Audio Development Company in the basement of his south Minneapolis home, inventing ADC's very first product, the audiometer, an electronic device designed to test hearing. It was later renamed to ADC Telecommunications, Inc.

Two years later, fellow engineer Walt Lehnert joined Allison, and together they diversified the company's product line to include amplifiers and transformers for the broadcast industry. By 1942, the company had designed a sophisticated audio system for the University of Minnesota, and the resulting jacks, plugs, patch cords and jackfields became the cornerstones for ADC's later entry into telecommunications.

In 1949, ADC sold its audiometer product line and Ralph Allison left the company to form a new business in California. ADC diversified and focused its efforts in the area of transformers and filters for power lines, military electronics, telephone jacks and plugs. In 1961, ADC merged with Magnetic Controls Company, a manufacturer of power supplies and magnetic amplifiers with strong ties to the U.S. space program. The resulting company, ADC Magnetic Controls, had a decade of mixed success. Although transformer sales boomed during the 1960s, other new product initiatives failed to materialize. Perhaps the most significant product innovation during this period was the bantam jack, a miniaturized component that eventually became the standard for telephone circuit access and patching. Building on its growing sales of jacks and plugs in the early 1970s, ADC introduced prewired, connectorized jackfields, wired assemblies and test equipment for telephone operating companies. By 1974 the company was on solid ground, and by 1976, ADC had become the largest independent supplier of test boards in the United States.



Strengths

* Online growth
* Market share leadership
* Strong brand equity

Weaknesses

* Diseconomies to scale
* Weak real estate

Opportunities

* Asset leverage
* Innovation
* Online

Threats

* Competition
* External changes (government, politics, taxes, etc)
* Product substitution
 
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