The Rohde & Schwarz technology company ends a successful 2020/2021 fiscal year despite ongoing global economic challenges. With its cutting-edge solutions, the company has continued to prove robust in last year’s highly dynamic market environment. In addition to its established business fields, Rohde & Schwarz has made substantial investments in future technologies such as 6G, quantum technology, the industrial internet of things (IIoT), artificial intelligence and cloud technology. The company is a trailblazer in the socially relevant topics of security and connectivity.
The independent technology company Rohde & Schwarz closed its 2020/2021 fiscal year (July to June) with EUR 2.34 billion in revenue. Operating results were almost at the previous year’s level. The company exceeded its target values that had been adjusted to match market developments. This sends a good signal in light of the challenging dynamics of the past fiscal year.
Employees are the most valuable asset
Even under challenging economic conditions, Rohde & Schwarz has proven a reliable employer that sees its innovative employees as the cornerstone of success. Consequently, many issues related to how the company will collaborate in the future are high on the agenda. For example, the high-tech company now offers greater flexibility for working hours and workplace, and has anchored this in agreements to reflect current and future changes in conditions. The workforce of the privately owned, global company grew at a moderate rate. At the end of the fiscal year, Rohde & Schwarz had around 13,000 employees in more than 70 countries worldwide.
Future technologies drive innovations
Rohde & Schwarz is a pioneer in many technologies, including the further development of mobile communications up to 6G, T&M solutions for quantum computing, the IIoT, the increasing inroads made by artificial intelligence as well as cloud technologies. Together with its subsidiaries and partners, the company is developing future technological solutions with a passion for innovation.
New three-division structure creates added value for customers
Three strong divisions allow Rohde & Schwarz to address distinct customer needs even more closely and lay the foundation for further growth. The Test & Measurement Division provides products for diverse market segments such as wireless communications, industry, components and research as well as automotive.
The former Secure Communications, Monitoring & Network Testing and Broadcast & Media Divisions were merged to create the new Technology Systems Division. In this division, Rohde & Schwarz bundles technological system expertise and resources in the markets where project business plays an important role. The company’s solutions contribute significantly to the digital sovereignty of customers.
The Networks & Cybersecurity Division equips business and public authorities with secure WAN, LAN and WLAN network infrastructures and products to protect data transmission, devices and applications. Future-ready network, security and encryption solutions protect the digital information and business processes of companies and public institutions against the effects of cyberattacks.
Test & measurement business again proved to be robust
Especially markets highly dependent on the latest technologies as well as their suppliers continued to invest heavily. This drove business performance in the Test & Measurement Division.
Rohde & Schwarz has designed market-leading solutions from V2X to 5G for challenging automotive applications such as communications between vehicles and their surroundings and for the latest wireless communications standard in mobility. The company could further improve its position in this field with innovative radar T&M instruments and systems. For example, automotive manufacturers, suppliers and test houses benefited from a unique test solution that cost-efficiently translates realistic driving scenarios from the road to the lab. The global expansion of 5G networks continued unabated, generating high demand, in particular for user equipment testing in the frequency range up to 7 GHz.
Rohde & Schwarz has meanwhile established itself on the market as an oscilloscope supplier. Since entering the market over 10 years ago, the technology company has continually developed new instruments that were designed and developed specifically with customer needs in mind. The demand for T&M solutions among component manufacturers reflected the sustained high level of investment in digitalization and connectivity in almost all industries. To position Rohde & Schwarz T&M solutions in the quantum computing field, the company successfully completed the acquisition of the leading Swiss T&M manufacturer Zurich Instruments AG, effective July 1, 2021.
Global customer proximity ensures technology partnership in project business
The strong local presence of Rohde & Schwarz compensated for pandemic-related restrictions on project business, e.g. due to travel regulations. In Germany, the company consolidated its position as a national champion in the secure communications market segment. From air traffic control to secure communications for ground and naval forces, Rohde & Schwarz makes a key contribution to the digital sovereignty of government customers for security-critical applications by offering cross-platform systems such as CERTIUM, SOVERON and NAVICS.
The global expansion of 5G networks requires technical adaptations to network monitoring systems, driving demand for suitable solutions in the mobile network testing (MNT) market segment. Major network operators and infrastructure providers worldwide appreciate the test performance of Rohde & Schwarz solutions due to their optimal quality of experience (QoE) and quality of service (QoS). A 5G campus network at one of its plants allows Rohde & Schwarz to directly optimize the implementation of real Industry 4.0 use cases.
Rohde & Schwarz meets growing demand for network and security solutions
The Networks & Cybersecurity Division benefits from additional demand for network and security solutions in both public and private sectors. The growing number of cyberattacks, increasingly decentralized structures and rise in mobile work are raising the importance of digital security and sovereignty. Together with its subsidiaries LANCOM Systems and Rohde & Schwarz Cybersecurity, the technology company is one of the largest suppliers of network, security and encryption solutions for professional customers in Europe.
LANCOM Systems offers the first software based business router certified by the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) to enable secure site networking. As part of the DigitalPakt Schule (digital pact for schools) support program, the network and security specialist has already equipped more than 3,000 schools with network technology that meets the highest security and data protection standards. In the government sector, Rohde & Schwarz Cybersecurity equipped the public authority network of a German federal state with BSI-approved encryption technology. Other German federal states are planning to use this as a blueprint for the modernization of their networks.
Outlook: focus on growth
The global economic recovery positively impacted the performance especially towards the end of the fiscal year. Thanks to its global positioning in future markets and its strong economic base, Rohde & Schwarz is very well positioned for further growth.
