July 23, 2024, 10:07 am | Read time: 4 minutes
The nearly 35-year-long, tumultuous history of Comtech Computersystem GmbH seemed marked by resilience. The brand weathered an initial bankruptcy and initially made a strong comeback. Yet, the company ultimately had to give up, this time for good. But let’s start from the beginning.
Comtech was founded in 1985 in Stuttgart by Joachim Bäurle, who was just 35 years old at the time. The mail-order company for computers, telecommunications, and information technology was able to open its first branch in the capital of Baden-Württemberg just two years later, in 1987. In 1990, the company moved to its new headquarters in Waiblingen, about ten kilometers northeast of Stuttgart.
In the following years, Comtech earned a reputation for often being faster than some competitors. Customers interested in the latest technology were well served by the retailer. By January 1993, all Comtech computers were equipped with the ZIF socket for processors. The ZIF or Zero Insertion Force socket refers to a socket for electronic components where no pressure or pulling forces are required to insert or remove the component. This significantly minimized the risk of damaging a component.
In October 1993, Comtech was the first retailer in Europe to introduce the Vesa Local Bus (Vesa stands for Video Electronics Standards Association), a standardized system for data transfer. Just four months later, in February 1994, the company was again the first in Europe to offer the energy-saving Green PC. Comtech was riding a wave of success, as evidenced by the fact that by December 1995, it had already opened its 100th Comtech branch.
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2003 – the first Comtech bankruptcy
In 1996, Comtech acquired the rights to the PC retail chain Escom, a competitor that had temporarily become the number two in the German market behind Vobis. Escom, which had acquired the rights to the Amiga brand from the insolvent U.S. manufacturer Commodore in 1995 and founded the subsidiary Amiga Technologies GmbH, had meanwhile run into trouble itself and also had to file for bankruptcy. Comtech took over the 90 Escom branches, which were operated under the joint name Comtech from 1997 onwards.
In 1999, the company was integrated into the Mobilcom Group, with which it had already entered into a so-called strategic alliance in 1998. However, this was tantamount to the beginning of the end for Comtech MK I. On July 18, 2002, Mobilcom announced plans to close 62 of the Comtech branches. However, the company was sold just under two weeks later, on July 31, to the Wolfsberger Trend-e-pak Group. Just over half a year later, on March 13, 2003, Comtech had to file for bankruptcy and seemed to be history.
In early 2004, Joachim Ehmann acquired the Comtech brand name and the corresponding domain, Comtech.de. Ehmann then founded Comtech GmbH, based in Backnang, about thirty kilometers northeast of Stuttgart. Due to construction issues at the old location, the company moved to Aspach, just a few kilometers away, in 2010. There, on a 7,000-square-meter site, were the administration, warehouse, and a pickup shop.
Successful new beginning and new challenges
Very successful years followed for Comtech MK II. In 2010, the company reported a revenue increase of nearly 40 percent, from 46.5 million euros in 2009 to 64 million in 2010. Comtech was also involved in the construction of the new stadium for the then fourth-division soccer team in the Regionalliga Süd, SG Sonnenhof Großaspach. For three years, from 2011 to 2014, this stadium bore the name Comtech Arena. However, a year later, in 2015, the Norwegian Komplett Group acquired a majority stake in the Comtech Group. The Komplett Group is a Norwegian online retailer for electronic products. With 35,000 products in the areas of consumer electronics and business solutions, it is one of the largest providers on the market today.
Initially, Comtech continued to succeed, and in the following years, it regularly achieved double-digit revenue increases. From 2017 to 2018, revenue rose by another 20 percent, with a profit of just under a million euros. Therefore, it was all the more surprising for the general public when, in September 2019, the company announced it had filed for bankruptcy at the Stuttgart District Court.
Shortly thereafter, on November 28, 2019, Comtech in Aspach was closed. “Although we immediately launched an intensive international search for investors after the bankruptcy filing, we were unable to find a buyer,” said the statement from the insolvency administrator of the Achern-based law firm Schultze & Braun, Dietmar Haffa. There had been “serious interested parties,” but ultimately no purchase agreement was reached. “Therefore, unfortunately, we see no other option but to cease business operations,” Haffa said at the time. The reasons cited were “very high price pressure, weak market growth, and disagreements among the shareholders.” Comtech was definitively history.