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Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co. KG

Rohde & Schwarz

Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co. KG, which trades globally as Rohde & Schwarz, is a German technology group and the largest European-headquartered manufacturer of electronic test and measurement equipment. It was founded in Munich on 17 November 1933 by the physicists Lothar Rohde and Hermann Schwarz and remains privately owned, with no shares listed on any stock exchange. Its headquarters is still at Mühldorfstraße 15, 81671 Munich, in Bavaria. That independence is why the group invests a double-digit percentage of revenue in R&D each year and plans in decades, not quarters. Rohde & Schwarz is organised into three divisions: Test & Measurement, Technology Systems, and Networks & Cybersecurity. Test & Measurement is where the group's reputation in RF and microwave engineering was built. Its portfolio covers high-bandwidth digital oscilloscopes in the MXO 4, MXO 5, MXO 5C, RTO6 and RTP families; signal and spectrum analysers including the FSW and, since June 2025, the FSWX; ZNB and ZNBT vector network analysers; analogue and vector signal generators; and radio communication testers such as the CMX500 for 5G NR and research towards 6G. Alongside those sit EMC and EMI test systems built around EMI test receivers such as the ESW, broadband amplifiers and EMC software; programmable DC power supplies and source measure units in the NGL200 and NGU lines; automotive radar test solutions; and satellite and non-terrestrial-network test equipment, a growth area now that terrestrial and satellite networks converge. A second, increasingly visible cluster is quantum technology. Rohde & Schwarz acquired Zurich Instruments, a spin-off of ETH Zurich, in 2021, adding lock-in amplifiers and quantum control instrumentation for superconducting qubits to a portfolio that had previously stopped at classical RF measurement. Manufacturing is where the group differs most sharply from its peers. It runs three main production sites — Memmingen and Teisnach in Germany and Vimperk in the Czech Republic — plus smaller plants in Singapore and Malaysia, together employing roughly 5,000 people in production. Vertical integration is deliberately deep: board manufacturing, precision mechanics, metal housings, microelectronics and even custom ASICs are developed and produced in-house. Memmingen handles PCB assembly, microelectronics, final assembly and an antenna measurement chamber; Teisnach is the mechatronics centre; Vimperk builds the complete oscilloscope range. The group operates in more than 70 countries through its own subsidiaries and a service network, with regional headquarters in Columbia, Maryland in the United States and in Singapore for Asia. In fiscal year 2024/25, from July to June, Rohde & Schwarz generated net revenue of EUR 3.16 billion, up 7.8 percent and the first time the group has crossed the three-billion-euro mark; the order backlog reached a record of more than EUR 5 billion. The company employed more than 15,000 people worldwide as of 30 June 2025, close to 10,000 of them in Germany. What makes Rohde & Schwarz distinctive is the combination: a privately held company answerable to its owners rather than a stock market, manufacturing kept largely inside Europe, and a range that runs from a benchtop power supply to the instrumentation that certifies the next generation of wireless networks, radar systems and quantum processors.

Business Nature

Rohde & Schwarz manufactures most of what it sells. It is not an asset-light designer that outsources production; the group owns its plants and keeps the difficult steps in-house. Three main sites carry the load — Memmingen and Teisnach in Germany and Vimperk in the Czech Republic — with smaller plants in Singapore and Malaysia doing final assembly of standard equipment. Together they employ around 5,000 people in production. The in-house scope is unusually deep. Board manufacturing, electronic module assembly, cable production, precision mechanics, metal housings and microelectronics are produced internally, and even custom ASICs are developed and built by the group. Memmingen covers PCB assembly, microelectronics and final assembly, and runs a DAkkS-accredited calibration laboratory. Teisnach is the mechatronics and systems centre. Vimperk builds the complete oscilloscope range. Keeping development and production close together matters: design changes reach the line quickly and quality problems surface early. The trade-off is exposure: most capacity sits in Europe, where energy costs and geopolitical risk are higher than in Asia.

Core Business Areas

Test & Measurement – largest European-headquartered T&M maker; group core
• oscilloscopes: MXO 4, MXO 5/MXO 5C, RTO6, RTP
• signal and spectrum analysers: FSW family, FSWX
• vector network analysers: ZNB, ZNBT
• wireless test: CMX500 tester, 5G NR/6G research
• EMC/EMI systems: ESW EMI test receiver
• power supplies: NGL200, NGU source units

Technology Systems – secure communications, defence electronics, sensing
• software-defined radios: SOVERON family
• naval communications and reconnaissance systems
• millimetre-wave passenger security scanners
• broadcast transmitters and spectrum monitoring

Networks & Cybersecurity – built around subsidiary LANCOM Systems
• enterprise networking and Wi-Fi infrastructure
• network management and security software

Quantum & Power Measurement – adjacent growth portfolio
• quantum control systems, lock-in amplifiers Zurich Instruments
• high-precision power measurement ZES ZIMMER

Industry Rankings

2Top 10 Power & Electronic Instruments Manufacturers

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3Top 10 Power & Electronic Instruments Brands

Brand

—Top 10 Safety Monitoring Instrument Manufacturers

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—Top 10 Safety Monitoring Instrument Brands

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—Top 10 Geometric Measuring Tools Manufacturers

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Corporate Report

Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co. KG is a privately owned German technology group based in Munich, founded in 1933 and best known as the largest European-headquartered maker of electronic test and measurement equipment. Its three divisions closed fiscal year 2024/25 (July to June) with net revenue of EUR 3.16 billion, up 7.8 percent, and employed more than 15,000 people, close to 10,000 of them in Germany.

Industry Position

Rohde & Schwarz ranks in the top tier of global RF and microwave instrumentation alongside Keysight, Tektronix, Anritsu and Advantest, and is the only company of that scale headquartered in Europe. Its strongest franchises are signal and spectrum analysis, vector network analysis, EMC and EMI compliance testing, wireless communications test and spectrum monitoring. Customers are regulators, network operators, aerospace primes and defence ministries as well as industrial R&D laboratories.

Revenue rose 7.8 percent to EUR 3.16 billion in 2024/25, the first time the group passed three billion euros, and the order backlog hit a record above EUR 5 billion, driven by security and defence programmes in Germany, Europe and North America. The prior year produced EUR 2.93 billion. Country-level revenue is not disclosed, so a circulated figure of roughly USD 450 million for China could not be verified.

Competitive Advantages

Manufacturing depth is the least replicable asset. Three main plants — Memmingen and Teisnach in Germany and Vimperk in the Czech Republic — plus smaller plants in Singapore and Malaysia employ around 5,000 people in production. Board manufacturing, precision mechanics, metal housings, microelectronics and custom ASICs are built in-house, and roughly EUR 300 million has gone into capacity recently. Vimperk builds the complete oscilloscope range.

Private ownership reinforces the model: with no listed shares, the group invests a double-digit percentage of revenue in R&D annually and plans over decades rather than quarters. The portfolio is broad for an instrumentation house, spanning power supplies, oscilloscopes, EMC systems, secure radios, naval communications, security scanners and enterprise networking. The 2021 acquisition of Zurich Instruments added quantum control instrumentation.

Strategic Expansion

Defence and security are the fastest-growing engine. In November 2025 Rohde & Schwarz and Italy's ELT Group announced at the Berlin Security Conference their intent to move from project cooperation, including F124 Sachsen-class frigate modernisation, to a global strategic partnership across air, land, space and cyber electronic defence. The group also partnered with TRUMPF on drone defence and won a Federal Aviation Administration order in the United States in May 2025.

In test and measurement the growth paths are 6G, satellite and automotive. An NVIDIA-assisted proof of concept for neural receivers for 5G-Advanced and 6G was shown at Mobile World Congress 2025, and the FSWX signal and spectrum analyser followed in June 2025. The group has invested in ZES ZIMMER for precision power measurement, fiveD for radar simulation and Orbint for space signal intelligence, and plans further plant expansion in Germany, the Czech Republic and Malaysia.

Risks & Outlook

Concentrating manufacturing in Europe is a structural exposure: energy and labour costs in Germany and the Czech Republic are well above Asian or North American levels, and a defence-heavy order book ties the group to policy cycles, procurement delays and export controls. The test and measurement market is described by the company itself as challenging.

An order backlog above EUR 5 billion, a EUR 3.16 billion revenue base and deep vertical integration give unusual visibility, and management guided to a stable environment for 2025/26. The watch items are whether defence demand converts into deliveries on schedule, whether wireless test demand recovers, and whether expansion outside Germany cuts cost without eroding engineering proximity. VerityRank Score of 89/100.

VerityRank Score

89/ 100

Based on market presence, financial scale, operational capacity, and brand strength.

Quick Facts

Headquarters

Munich, Bavaria, Germany

Founded

1933

Employees

~15,000 (more than 15,000 worldwide as of June 30, 2025)

Revenue

EUR ~3.16 billion (FY2024/25, July 2024 to June 2025; up 7.8% year on year)

Factories

Rohde & Schwarz runs three main production plants at Memmingen and Teisnach in Germany and Vimperk in the Czech Republic, supported by smaller final-assembly plants in Singapore and Malaysia.

Listing

Unlisted

Data Sources & Methodology

This corporate profile is compiled from publicly available sources including company annual reports, SEC/regulatory filings, official press releases, and verified third-party industry databases. Financial figures reflect the most recent fiscal year disclosures and are cross-validated across multiple independent references.

VerityRank Score is calculated using a proprietary multi-dimensional model evaluating market presence, financial strength, operational scale, innovation capacity, and brand influence. Individual dimension scores are normalized against industry peers and updated quarterly.

Disclaimer: This profile is for informational purposes only. VerityRank makes no warranties regarding completeness or timeliness. This content does not constitute investment advice or endorsement.

Key references: Official Website , Rohde & Schwarz company profile · Manufacturing and vertical integration · FY2024/25 results · Zurich Instruments acquisition

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