History
1992 - Pilot project begins
Elcoteq started operations in Tallinn with 10 employees. At that time, it was a temporary pilot project for testing the feasibility of manufacturing in Estonia. Production premises were rented from Punane RET, a local electronics plant.
1993 Company registered
As the pilot project was successful, the Group decided to establish a company and register it in Estonia. Initially the company was named Elcoteq Baltic and the shares were divided amongst the partners as follows:
- 40% Elcoteq
- 40% Estonian State
- 20% Finnfund
Financial reasons were not the main reason why the Estonian Government came on board. Rather, this was a guarantee by the young republic that the investment would be safe. Finnfund is mainly a state owned Finnish venture capital fund that helps Finnish companies to invest in developing markets.
In line with the agreement, both the Estonian Government and Finnfund sold their shares to Elcoteq in 1997.
1996 GSM Repair Center
Ericsson, one of Elcoteq’s biggest customers at that time, authorized Elcoteq Tallinn to repair mobile phones returned by the customers. This made Elcoteq Tallinn one of Ericsson’s “highest-level repair centers”. There were four to five such centers around the world. The designation “highest-level repair center” meant that if the phone could not be repaired at Elcoteq Tallinn, it had to be thrown away.
1997 GSM high-volume manufacturing (box build)
The know-how and skills gained from the repair center project led to a historical milestone in the electronics manufacturing services sector. Namely, Ericsson was the first mobile phone company to entrust the whole manufacturing process of a specific product to another company, starting from component sourcing to packaging for end-customers and shipping to customers – box-build. Ericsson GA628 mobile phones were produced at Elcoteq Tallinn's Peterburi tee Plant. They featured the text Made in Estonia. This was a great breakthrough and enabled the company to grow significantly.
2000 Engineering Center established
Know-how and skills gained from high-volume production enabled Elcoteq Tallinn to offer product development and new product introduction services.
2001 Tallinn 2 plant opened
The facility at Peterburi tee (24,000 m2) got a little brother, which became known as Tallinn 2 (9,000 m2). As 2001 saw a global decline in the IT and telecommunications sector, the second plant was closed shortly after being opened. The new facility was left to wait for better days.
2004 Tallinn 2 plant expanded
Due to additional growth in orders and the expansion of the Engineering Center, a decision was made to build an extension (9000 m2) to the new plant. The total area of the company increased to 42,000 m2, the size of 6 football stadiums.
2005 About 1,300 additional employees
Developments in the global telecommunications market also influenced Elcoteq Tallinn, leading to rapid growth in production volumes and the number of employees.