Raytheon was founded in 1922 and began specializing in the production of vacuum tubes and other electronic devices. In 1940 Raytheon began defense contracting for the British and US Governments and were pioneers in the development of subminiature tubes that were initially used in missiles and later in hearing aids and small portable radios. Defense contracting paid well for Raytheon, a company that had only $3 million in sales before the war, by wars end annual income had risen to $173 million!
Raytheon began producing transistors in 1949 but it wasn’t until 1952 that the company began mass producing them. At this time Raytheon began touting transistors as an alternative to the subminiature tubes currently in use in hearing aids. So the first commercial product to use transistors was the hearing aid.
In 1953 Raytheon released the worlds first commercially available transistor, the CK722 initially sold for $8.00 and was popular with experimenters. Raytheon continued defense contracting during the Korean War and in 1956 sold its radio and television divisions to the Admiral Corporation.
Today Raytheon employs over 72,000 people and they are the fifth largest defense contractor in the World.
REF: ‘The Portable Radio in American Life’ by Michael Brian Schiffer.
