AVM GmbH


AVM is a consumer electronics company founded in 1986 in Berlin, Germany. The company produces communications, networking devices such as DSL, ISDN, Wireless and VoIP products. It had sales of €250 million in 2012 with 450 employees. It is well known for its popular FRITZ!Box series.

Products

AVM is popular in Germany. It sells ISDN cards in an AVM line, DSL Cards, routers, modems, WLAN and networking products:
The company was founded in 1986 by four students: Johannes Nill, Peter Faxel, Ulrich Müller-Albring and Jörg-Detlef Gebert.
AVM sold its first ISDN card in 1989 for 4.300 Mark to larger businesses. The company's breakthrough came in 1995 with the introduction of the FRITZ!-brand and the FRITZ!Card, an ISDN card for PCs. The name Fritz was chosen "because a non-technical name has been sought which should indicate winking German workmanship and abroad." AVM's market share for ISDN cards grew continuously to a peak of over 80 percent in 2004.
At CeBIT 2004 AVM introduced the first FRITZ!Box, a combination of DSL modem and router, later with Wi-Fi and integrated PBX. Published in 2007, the FRITZ!Box Fon WLAN 7270 was seen as innovative by supporting WLAN Draft-N and containing a DECT base station and a media server.
According to market research firm IDC, AVM had a market share in CPE-Equipment of 60 percent in Germany and 18 percent in Europe.
In recent years, AVM is also engaging in the field of home automation and smart home.
The "AVM" in the company name is the acronym for "Audio Visual marketing" and refers to the company's beginnings as BTX service.
In 2015 AVM employed 570 people and generated sales of 400 million Euro.