Ericsson to cease using Tandberg brand in January

Technology giant Ericsson is to cease to use the Tandberg Television brand for its TV products from January 25.

Ericsson acquired Tandberg two and a half years ago, and the move is seen as a natural evolution of the parent group’s increased focus on TV as a key market for future growth. The company last week announced that Swedish broadcaster TV4 had decided to outsource its broadcast operations to the company, a contract that will also see Ericsson work with TV4 on developing future strategy.

Giles Wilson, Tandberg’s chief architect, said at a press lunch in London on Monday, “It’s exciting for us to work inside a broadcaster, but…Tandberg as a standalone organisation could never have done that.” Wilson that said that it was “now time to move onto the next stage…[and] we will no longer sell solutions under the Tandberg brand; it will be all under the Ericsson brand”.

The company said in an email to customers: “From the 25th of January 2010 we will start using the Ericsson name for all our TV solutions and stop using Tandberg Television. Television is a cornerstone of Ericsson’s multimedia strategy, and Tandberg Television’s market leading technologies and expert team are at the core of this strategy. Together we will draw on decades of broadcast TV market leadership and technology innovation, as we move to deliver on our vision for more on-demand and more HD, with multi-platform and converged television across cable, satellite, telco and terrestrial platforms.”