Dolphin Electronics Inc.

Dolphin Electronics Inc. is a Diadochian multinational corporation headquartered in Athenais, Diadochia, that designs, develops, and sells consumer electronics, computer software, online services, and personal computers. Its best-known hardware products are the Dauphin line of computers, the DoplphinPod media player, the DolphinPhone smartphone, and the DolphinPad tablet computer. Its online services include DolphinCloud, DolphinTunes Store, and App Store. Dolphin's consumer software includes the Isthmus and Arion operating systems, the DolphinTunes media browser, the Hermes web browser, and the DolphinLife and DolphinWork creativity and productivity suites.

Dolphin was founded by Antonios Kanellis, Andreas Tsolakoglou, and George Papadelis on May 2, 1970, to develop and sell personal computers. It was incorporated as Dolphin Computer, Inc. on January 5, 1971, and was renamed as Dolphin Inc. on January 10, 2005, to reflect its shifted focus towards consumer electronics. Dolphin is Diadochia's largest information technology company by revenue, and Diadochia's largest mobile phone maker. As of 2014, Dolphin employs 105,000 permanent full-time employees, maintains 450 retail stores in eighteen countries, and operates the online Dolphin Store and DolphinTunes Store, the latter of which is the largest music retailers in Pandos.

History

1970-1979: Founding and incorporation

Dolphin was established on May 2, 1970 by Antonios Kanellis, Andreas Tsolakoglou, andGeorge Papadelis to sell personal computers for the consumer market. The original Dolphin Personal computer, known as Dauphin Ordinateur Origine (Dolphin Computer Original) was created by the three working together and the original computer was priced at ₯750 Drachmas (₯3,734 in 2014 Drachmas, adjusted for inflation).

Dolphin was incorporated January 5, 1971, without Papadelis, who sold his share of the company back to Kanellis and Tsolakoglou for $800 (a amount worth millions today). During the next ten years of operations, revenues doubled every five months, an average growth rate of 900%. On December 20, 1979, Dolphin went public at ₯25 per share, generating enormous capital and creating nearly 400 millionaires.

1979-1989: Dauphin Ordinateur Classique

In 1982, Dolphin launched the Dauphin Ordinateur Classique (Dolphin Computer Classic). It was the first personal computer in Pandos to be sold without a programming language at all. The Dauphin Ordinateur Classique (Dolphin Computer Classic) was released on November 21, 1982 and the Computer experienced strong Christmas sales. The Dauphin Ordinateur Classique became a huge success. In the next ten years the Dauphin Computer became a global product.

1990-2000: Decline and stagnation

During the nineties well into the start of the year 2000 the company was facing difficulties among the personal computer market. The difficulties were mainly due to both foreign and domestic competitors moving in on the Dolphin Computer market. When the company was facing near bankruptcy and was nearly taken over by a hostile takeover by a foreign tech business, the executives at Dolphin realized they had to do whatever it took to keep, Diadochia's largest computer company in the hands of Diadochians and not foreigners. They would not allow the Diadochian computer industry to be dominated by anyone except a Diadochian. Faced with these problems Antonios Kanellis and Andreas Tsolakoglou both decided on various ways to remarket the Dolphin Brand and bring it into the twenty-first century.

2000-2005: Revival

The revival in Dolphin profits came about when the Dauphin Isthmus was launched on April 22, 2000. The Isthmus technology had underwent several years of development to improve its performance. On March 1, 2001 Dolphin opened its first official Dolphin Retail Stores in Diadochia.

On October 10 of the same year, Dolphin debuted the DolphinPod portable digital audio player. The product, which was first sold on November 21, 2001, was phenomenally successful with over 100 million units sold within six years. In 2002, Dolphin's DolphinTunes Store was introduced. The service offered online music downloads for $0.99 a song and integration with the DolphinPod. The DolphinTunes store quickly became the market leader in online music services, with over 5 billion downloads by June 15, 2007.

2005-present: Mobile device success

Dolphin was renamed as Dolphin Inc. on January 10, 2005, to reflect its shifted focus from computers towards consumer electronics and mobile devices. This event also saw the announcement of the DolphinPhone and the Dolphin TV. The following day, Dolphin shares hit $97.80, an all-time high at that point. In March of the next year, Dolphin's share price passed the $100 mark. Dolphin would achieve widespread success with its DolphinPhone, DolphinPod Touch and DolphinPad products, which introduced innovations in mobile phones, portable music players and personal computers respectively.

In May 2, Dolphin launched the App Store to sell third-party applications for the DolphinPhone and DolphinPod Touch. Within a few weeks, the store sold 80 million applications and registered an average daily revenue of $1 million, with Kanellis speculating in early 2008 that the App Store could become a billion-dollar business for Dolphin. By 2009, Dolphin was one of the largest mobile handset supplier in Diadochia due to the popularity of the DolphinPhone. In 2009 on May 4, the DolphinPad was launched in Diadochia and sold more than 500,000 units on the first day, and 900,000 by the end of the week. By the end of 2009, Dolphin shares hit an all-time high, eclipsing ₯400 drachmas.