electronics founded 1964 ; 52 years ago 1964 founder amar g. bose 1 headquarters framingham massachusetts u.s. key people bob maresca president & ceo products loudspeakers headphones audio equipment car audio professional audio revenue us 3.5 billion 2015 2 number of employees 11 700 2015 parent massachusetts institute of technology majority non voting shareholder website www.bose.com bose corporation bo z is an american privately held corporation based in framingham massachusetts that specializes in audio equipment . 3 founded in 1964 by dr. amar g. bose the company sells its products throughout the world . forbes estimates that in the 2015 financial year bose received revenue of us 3.5 billion 4 and employed approximately 11 700 people . 5 bose is best known for its home audio systems and speakers 6 noise cancelling headphones 6 professional audio systems 7 and automobile sound systems . 8 the company has also conducted research into suspension technologies for cars 9 and heavy duty trucks 10 and into the subject of cold fusion . 11 bose has a reputation for being particularly protective of its patents trademarks and brands . a majority of bose corporation s shares were gifted by amar bose in 2011 to his alma mater and former employer the massachusetts institute of technology . however while they receive cash dividends they are prohibited from selling their shares in bose and are unable to participate in the management and governance of the company . contents 1 history 1.1 formation of bose corporation 1.2 early years 1.3 research history 1.4 history of bose corporation presidents 1.5 majority of bose stock given to mit 2 bose stores 3 facilities 4 specialized products 4.1 car audio 4.2 automotive suspension system 4.3 noise cancelling headphones 4.4 seat suspension system for truck drivers 4.5 professional audio systems 4.6 l1 portable systems 4.7 electroforce 4.8 military applications 5 home audio & video products 5.1 music and speaker systems 5.2 home entertainment systems 6 technical data not published 7 reception 8 legal action 9 references 10 external links history edit formation of bose corporation edit the company was founded in 1964 12 by amar g. bose . eight years earlier bose then a graduate student at mit had purchased a stereo system and was disappointed with its performance . this led him to research the importance of reverberant indirect sound on perceived audio quality . 13 early years edit bose began extensive research aimed at clarifying factors that he saw as fundamental weaknesses plaguing high end audio systems . the principal weaknesses in his view were that overall the electronics and speaker failed to account for the spatial properties of the radiated sound in typical listening spaces homes and apartments and the implications of spatiality for psychoacoustics i.e. the listener s head as a sonic diffraction object as part of the system . eight years later he started the company charging it with a mission to achieve better sound through research now the company slogan . in an interview in 2007 bose talked about an early review that kept the company alive . one magazine in the united states high fidelity a really credible magazine had one reviewer named norman eisenburg who really knew his music . in those days i used to take the loudspeaker to the reviewer . i packed my son and loudspeaker in the car and went off . i put this little thing on top of the big speakers he had turned it on and within five minutes he said i don t care if this is made of green cheese it s the best sound most accurate sound i ve ever heard . he came out with a review titled surround and conquer . 14 he was not known to do things like that . everybody in the press knew he knew music and it resulted in rave reviews one after another and we were able to survive . 15 research history edit bose s first loudspeaker product the model 2201 16 dispersed 22 small mid range speakers over an eighth of a sphere . it was designed to be located in the corner of a room using reflections off the walls to increase the apparent size of the room . an electronic equalizer was used to flatten the frequency spectrum of this system . the results of listening tests were disappointing . 16 after this research bose came to the conclusion that imperfect knowledge of psychoacoustics limits the ability to adequately characterize quantitatively any two arbitrary sounds that are perceived differently and to adequately characterize and quantify all aspects of perceived quality . he believes that distortion is much overrated as a factor in perceived quality in the complex sounds that comprise music . similarly he does not find measurable relevance to perceived quality in other easily measured parameters of loudspeakers and electronics and therefore does not publish those specifications for bose products . the ultimate test bose insists is the listener s perception of audible quality or lack of it and his or her own preferences . 17 18 this reluctance to publish information is due to bose s rejection of these measurements in favour of more meaningful measurement and evaluation procedures . 19 bose conducted further research into psychoacoustics that eventually clarified the importance of a dominance of reflected sound arriving at the head of the listener a listening condition that is characteristic of live performances . this led to a speaker design in which eight identical mid range drivers with electronic equalization were aimed at the wall behind the speaker while the ninth driver was aimed towards the listener . the purpose of this design was to achieve a dominance of reflected over direct sound in home listening spaces . the pentagonal design used in the model 901 was and remains unconventional compared with most systems where the mid range and high frequency speakers directly face the listener . 20 citation needed the model 901 premiered in 1968 and was an immediate commercial success and bose corporation grew rapidly during the 1970s . also of interest the bose 901 has been in continuous production since 1968 second only to the klipsch klipschorn speaker in longevity of continuous production . 21 history of bose corporation presidents edit william bill zackowitz 1964 66 charles chuck hieken 1966 69 frank e. ferguson 1969 76 amar g. bose 1976 80 sherwin greenblatt 1980 2000 16 john coleman 2000 05 bob maresca since 2005 majority of bose stock given to mit edit the late founder amar bose was the company chairman and the primary stockholder until he donated the majority of the firm s shares to his former employer and alma mater the massachusetts institute of technology in 2011 . an annual cash dividend will be used when it is paid out to advance the research and education mission of mit . however the conditions of receiving the shares state that mit is not allowed to sell its shares in bose corporation . it will also be prohibited from participating in the management and governance of the company . 22 23 24 death of amar bose founder and company chairman amar g. bose died in july 2013 in his home in wayland massachusetts at the age of 83 . 25 he was succeeded as president by bob maresca bose stores edit bose retail store in century city in 1993 bose opened its first store in kittery maine . since then bose has opened 190 stores in the u.s. and numerous locations worldwide . in britain there are eleven standard bose retail stores including one on regent street and seven so called factory outlets . 26 facilities edit the company s corporate headquarters complex is known as the mountain and is located in framingham massachusetts . the company runs facilities in framingham westborough and stow all located in the state of massachusetts 27 . bose products are generally manufactured in one of four plants . bose corporation owns two factories themselves facilities in framingham massachusetts and tijuana mexico . two other manufacturing and development operations employing approximately 3 500 people are located in san luis r o colorado mexico opened in 1990 and batu kawan malaysia opened in 2013 . the two factories produce selected headphones wireless speakers home theatre systems and professional audio products . the batu kawan facility also serves as a distribution hub for bose s asia pacific and middle east business . 28 in june 2016 it was announced that these facilities would be purchased by contract manufacturer flextronics now flex which will take over current and planned bose production in the two factories . 29 in 2015 two facilities in columbia south carolina and carrickmacross ireland were closed with the loss of 300 and 140 jobs respectively as part of a global streamlining of bose s supply chain . the columbia facility which opened in 1993 was utilised for distribution and repair sub manufacturing and regional manufacturing as well as final assembly for some headsets . meanwhile the carrickmacross factory which begun operations in 1978 did final assembly for some home theatre systems wave radios and other regional manufacturing . the work will be shifted to other bose facilities performing the same functions including operations in mexico and malaysia . 30 specialized products edit car audio edit bose car audio in 1983 bose introduced the industry s first custom engineered factory installed sound systems in the 1983 cadillac seville cadillac eldorado buick riviera and oldsmobile toronado . 31 in these early systems bose customized each installation by building the speaker enclosure and adjusting the frequency response for each vehicle . bose produces a range of speakers and audio products for automotive use . at the 2007 auto show in geneva switzerland bose launched a new media system incorporating stereo navigation and hands free calling with the ferrari 612 scaglietti . 32 33 34 35 in 2007 the bose media system won the international telematics award for the best storage solution for in car environment . 36 some automotive manufacturers that have used in the past or currently use bose car audio products are acura alfa romeo audi buick cadillac chevrolet ferrari fiat gmc holden honda infiniti mazda maybach citation needed mercedes benz nissan oldsmobile opel pontiac porsche renault volkswagen and rolls royce citation needed . automotive suspension system edit bose conducts research into using electromagnetic motors in place of conventional hydraulic or air automotive suspension systems . the system was due for release in 2009 37 38 however there are no vehicles in production using the system . this research is based on two state non linear power processing and conditioning . in 2004 bose unveiled a prototype application of the technology 39 after more than 20 years of research . the system uses electromagnetic linear motors to raise or lower the wheels of an automobile in response to uneven bumps or potholes on the road . 40 within milliseconds the wheels are raised when approaching a bump or extended into a pothole thus keeping the vehicle level . this technology uses similar principles to noise cancelling technology for speakers and earphones . the unevenness of the road is sensed and processed much like a sound wave . a canceling wave is generated which is applied to the wheels through the linear motors . 24 in a french interview bose even shows off the car jumping over an obstacle . 41 bose says that the system is high cost and heavy even after many years and 100 million of development . 42 43 noise cancelling headphones edit bose quietcomfort 25 acoustic noise cancelling headphones bose makes noise cancelling headphones that have been lauded for their performance . 44 bose makes noise canceling aviation headsets which have been used in the space shuttle to help prevent astronaut hearing damage . 45 seat suspension system for truck drivers edit bose applied its research in suspension systems to the problem of fatigue back pain