The Pye Group was more than just a UK organisation with more than 60 British operating companies and was always highly motivated to supply export markets.

Between 1946 and 1972 Pye established manufacturing facilities for various product lines in Australia, India, New Zealand, France, Canada, South Africa, Hong Kong, Eire, Northern Ireland, USA and Italy and much later in Brazil.

Pye in Australia

From 1949 Pye established a radio communications design and manufacturing facility in Melbourne Australia, which grew and flourished, based on Pye Telecom products. This arose from the manufacture of Pye military wireless sets during World War 2 by Australian companies and the subsequent formation of joint commercial ventures.

Philips had been active in Australia since before World War 2, and in 1948 began production of two-way radio equipment designed in Hendon, South Australia. Over the intervening years, Philips and Pye were competitors in the Australian radio communications market.

Following the gradual take-over of the the Pye Group by Philips which began in 1967, the two competing radio communications companies were merged in 1970 and operated from the Pye Electronic facility in Clarinda Road, Clayton, Melbourne and traded as Philips Mobile Communications. In 1986 this became part of the Philips Radio Communications Systems (PRCS) Business Unit and in 1996 the whole world-wide PRCS group (except Marantz Japan) was sold by Philips and became Simoco International. In 2002 this succesful Australian operation was purchased by the Team Telecom Group and today trades as Simoco Australasia.

Pye in India

In India today, Simoco Telecommunications (South Asia) operates from the former Philips buidings at Salt Lake Electronics Centre, Kolkata, West Bengal. This company originated in the 1960s as a joint venture between Pye Telecommunications and the government of West Bengal and formerly operated from Canal Road, Calcutta.

...to be continued