| Ei Niš | |
| Type: | Joint-stock company |
| Foundation: | First founded in 1948 |
| Location City: | Bulevar Svetog cara Konstantina Rd 80-86, Niš |
| Location Country: | Serbia |
| Fate: | Bankruptcy procedure |
| Key People: | Predrag Kosovac |
| Industry: | Electronics |
| Products: | Röntgen machines, acoustic equipment, electronic machine elements |
| Num Employees: | 1 |
Ei Niš (full legal name: Holding-Korporacija Elektronska industrija a.d. Niš) or Electronics Industry Niš, is a holding company with headquarters in Niš, Serbia. The company has operated from 1948 until it declared bankruptcy in 2016.
It originated in 1948 from the foundation of the Institute for the Production of Radio Sets and X-ray Machines, "RR Niš." In the 1970s and 1980s it was one of the greatest Yugoslavian companies employing over 10 thousand people.[1] However, during the 1990s most of the company business collapsed, due to the war in Yugoslavia, lack of investing in research and sanctions the country was facing.
During the 2000s, the company manufactured acoustic equipment, electronic tubes including cathode-ray tubes, printed plates, electronic machine elements, hydraulics, pneumatics, appliances, air-conditioners, medical equipment, roentgen machines, TV sets, radio receivers, and semiconductors. It was one of the few remaining makers of electronic vacuum tubes.
In 2016, after decades of insolvency, it declared bankruptcy before regional Business Court.[2]
Elektronska Industrija Niš works in partnership with other European companies, such as Alcatel (telephony), Honeywell, Bull, Silicon graphics (computers), Sagem, Siemens, Hellige, or even ITT or Philips.[3]
The most successful period of business was from 1965 to 1980. At that time, EI had plants in Nis, Belgrade, Svrljig, Žitoraža, Aleksinac, Đevđelia (Macedonia), Serbia (Croatia), about 50 factories with 28,000 workers and an annual gross product of about 700 million dollars. At that time, the electronic industry had a large range of consumer products for domestic needs, the military and export. Appliances and devices were produced in large series: radios, loudspeakers, amplifiers, sound systems, computers, electric meters, washing machines, dishwashers, ordinary irons, televisions, telephones, telephone exchanges, HF devices, radio stations, railway signaling, traffic lights and accompanying equipment, special purpose devices for the needs of the army and militia, printed electronic circuits, industrial electronics, auto electronics, X-ray devices, medical devices, color cathode ray tubes, electronic tubes, air conditioners, cardboard packaging, plastic goods, ferromagnetic materials, resistors, capacitors, mechanical parts of devices, semiconductor elements.
Ei had spread plants into all Yugoslav republics and managed to develop full production process, most of all, semiconductor production.
The subsidiaries that have operated within the holding company Ei under various names and in various organizational forms are:
Ei agreed with local club FK Radnički Niš on sponsorship deal during 80s. The club peaked in the early 80s when it reached the UEFA Cup semifinals after already being near very top in the Yugoslav league for few year.
Ei managed to develop full spectrum of electronics production, but it was mostly know in the market by loudspeakers, amplifiers, sound systems, computers, electric meters, washing machines, dishwashers, ordinary irons, televisions, telephones, telephone exchanges.
EI products included the computers Pecom 32, Pecom 64, as well as the Lira series, starting with the Lira 512.