czasem ktoś pyta dlaczego po 96tym BASF robił swietne taśmy, ale pakował je do badziewnych kaset. ten post był dobrym skrótem historii "BASF by Emtec"
http://www.tapeheads.net/showpost.php?p=166477&postcount=16"BASF AG tried to unload the tape division to RAKS, the Turkish company, in September, 1996; but there was a riot when German workers found out. The deal was called off. In October of the same year, BASF AG convinced Kohap, the Korean chemical company, that buying a magnetic tape company made good sense for vertical integration. The argument was that demand for VHS video tape would remain strong with continuing but slow growth until demand peaked in 2010--that's last year!--with a slow decline in subsequent years. The BASF management actually believed it and forced anyone with a different opinion to keep quiet. Kohap fell for it.
Kohap arranged to keep the BASF logo for five years, with the "by EMTEC" qualification in place until such time that EMTEC would appear in the white rectangle in the logo. EMTEC was the subsidiary fully owned by Kohap, except in the United States where BASF management sold rights to distribute EMTEC products to Joseph Ryan (professional products, which was the only profitable division) and Sigmar Tullman (computer products). The reason for this odd approach was that the Department of Justice could not stop these "independent" distributors from their business if BASF were found guilty of price fixing for a third time. Kohap was not aware of this arrangement and was furious when they found out. In 1998 Kohap bought the professional and computer business back, but Mr. Ryan, who had named his company "JRPro Sales" after himself, had in six months brought the professional division to such losses that EMTEC could never recover. Korea fell into a severe recession a few years later, and Kohap was forced to sell off EMTEC to investment bankers. Once these bankers saw the books, they were appalled. It didn't take long for them to break the company apart and sell off whatever they could to anyone interested. Imation and Aurex bought some equipment and raw materials. Most of the rest went to scrap.
BASF had an operation just across the German border in France where audio and video tapes were loaded into housings molded and assembled in the same plant. I don't know why these cassettes are labeled "Made in Korea" unless they are part of an arrangement with SKC. SKC, Aurex, and BASF were all engaged in price fixing bulk audio tape in 1994 and 1995, and there were meetings in Seoul, Korea even in early 1997. S.K. Moon from SKC attended the first meetings and was fired for refusing to attend any more. He sued SKC in the state of California, and that's when the U.S. Justice Department got wind of the arrangement. Two weeks after Moon sued SKC, BASF Magnetics announced the fire sale to Kohap and fired Terry O'Kelly, the only BASF director who refused to participate in any illegal meetings at all. Since Kohap had no tape production, loading, or packaging equipment at all in Korea, these cassettes are either from SKC or from Saehan, another supplier to BASF in those days. Even though there was a loading and packaging operation in France, if the cassettes say "Made in Korea," they would have to have come from either SKC or Saehan.
The reason for the long story is that it had a lasting affect on tape production. In 1996 BASF Magnetics in the U.S. was expanding its professional division, and a number of Quantegy executives had asked O'Kelly if they could be part of that expansion. They all knew that VHS and audio cassettes had a limited life, but pro audio/video could be based on tape products if there were a reliable source. BASF had hired top sales people from Quantegy, Fuji, and Sony in the summer of 1996; and there was every reason to believe that BASF could easily become the largest and most stable tape supplier in the world. The threat of the price fixing lawsuit destroyed all that. BASF replaced O'Kelly with Ryan, the new sales people quit and sued BASF for "misrepresentation," and what was formerly the most profitable division began to bleed money. 3M had abandoned tape; Quantegy was struggling; and now BASF shot itself in the face. Recording studios watched all of this and decided that a move to digital was the safest bet. Analogue tape recording did not have to die off as quickly as it did".
