Admiral is one of the inseparable names in the world of electrical appliances. It is one of the pioneer brands to manufacture electrical appliances and bring revolution to our daily lifestyle. From when the concept of radio and TV first developed, Admiral Electronics brought them into reality. Here in this article, you will get to know about admiral products, their history, their present position, and their services. It is sometimes interesting to know about the history of a company and its contribution to creating history. You can better understand your product’s present technologies if you see the growth of the product from its beginning.
The History of Admiral
Admiral is an American electronics appliance brand that was previously manufactured by Maytag. But now Whirlpool owns this brand and most of the new products are merely rebranded Whirlpool products.
But Admiral has a glorious past. In 1930 Admiral starts its journey as a Chicago based maker of consumer electronics such as radios and phonographs. During World War 2 they supplied electronic equipment to the US military. During the 1950s it became one of the pioneer manufacturers of TV and refrigerators; the greatest creation of that era. Admiral was the weekly sponsor of the CBS Radio Network Sunday news program “World News Today”. But in the 1970s various divisions of it were sold to other companies mainly because of the competition with imported consumer electronic goods from Japan.
Have you heard the name of the Milwaukee Admirals hockey team? The Admiral in their name comes from the Admiral appliances. Its owner sold the team to a group of investors in 1971, and one of the investors named Edwin J. Meral owned an appliance store. And the team was named Admiral as Admiral Refrigerators were sold in his store.
In 1986 Maytag purchased the Magic Chef group of companies to become a full-line producer. And with the $737 million stock swap, Maytag gets a presence in the Magic Chef’s Admiral refrigerator and freezer sector. Along with refrigerators Magic Chef also manufactured various home appliances under the names Norge, Toastmaster, and Magic Chef. And this collaboration enables Maytag to become the fourth largest share of the US appliance market. This collaboration also protects Maytag from the risk of takeovers. As the market demand increased, companies began to sell high priced products while some try to get into the medium-priced market. Here Magic Chef becomes Maytag’s first step into a medium-sized market.
The merging of Magic Chef with Maytag doubles up the size of Maytag, and it demands a restructuring. The name of Maytag Company changes and becomes Maytag Corporation. Three main appliance groups forms inside it; Magic Chef, Maytag appliance division, and Admiral Appliance division (in 1988 the Admiral division consolidates into other groups). Maytag division includes Hardwick Stoves and Jenn-Air. The Admiral division includes Norge and Warwick as part of the old Magic Chef. Each division gets a great deal of autonomy. During 1986 other mergers within the industry results in four companies, i.e. Whirlpool, Maytag, General Electric, and White Consolidated Industries, which control almost 80 per cent market in the United States.
But after the Admiral brand gets fully integrated into the massive Whirlpool Corporation, the products they manufacture merely become the clones of whirlpool products. It is a little different as the name is different, but the products are more or less the same. Often these Admiral products are presented much more high priced than their whirlpool counterparts which means that now the Admiral brand is little more than an own-label brand for Whirlpool.
Retail Position of Admiral
The price range of Admiral Refrigerators has always been moderate and competitive. It did not cost more than similar products from other companies like Samsung, LG, or the Far East. In the UK besides refrigerators, no other branded products were available.
Recently in 2006, the Admiral brand name was brought by Whirlpool when they purchase Maytag. And for this, all the new products are now typically re-badged or renamed whirlpool products.
Admiral Service
If you want to get official Admiral service, then it is under the Whirlpool service partner network. The service can get a bit costly for you after surpassing the warranty period. Also, they can try to get you under the cover+1 service plan. But you can repair your Maytag or Admiral fridges from a trusted repair in less expenditure.
Admiral Spare Parts
Admiral spare parts are costly. But they are not overpriced. But they tend to be slightly more expensive than the Korean companies. You can get Admiral spare parts for the new models, but the older proper American units will face difficulty to get spare parts now. The reason is again as Whirlpool took over the brand. But you can get essential spare parts and easy replacement if you choose a suitable repair service company. Also, for regular maintenance purposes, you can take help from professional repairers.
The Bottom Line
So, Admiral is a well-known company with half of a century’s experience with them. If you trust a US-based company more than now-popular Korean ones, then you can surely get one Admiral Fridge for you. But, as Admiral is taken over by Whirlpool now, it is losing its originality and slowly becomes a clone of Whirlpool fridges.
