HOB GmbH & Co KG founded by Horst Brandstätter
HOB GmbH & Co. KG is part of the Brandstätter Group, which also owns Playmobil and other companies. HOB GmbH & Co. KG was founded in 1964 as an electronics concern, by Horst Brandstätter. The name HOB is an acronym formed from his name. HOB began developing software and terminals for IBM Mainframe computers in 1981. In 1983, HOB brought the world's first multi-session terminal for Mainframes onto the market, the HOB 78E terminal. Among the company’s major customers were MAN, Munich, the OFD Koblenz (Oberfinanzdirektion = Superior Finance Directorate: the central instance for all financial matters of the German state Rhineland-Palatinate), the automakers BMW and Audi, and the German mail-order giant Quelle. Up until 2001, the company produced hard- and software mainly for IBM Mainframes. With the advent of PC’s, terminal hardware sales dropped and, in 2001, HOB discontinued production of the multi-session terminals. Since then, HOB produces software providing remote connectivity for a range of computer operating systems. HOB also provides network infrastructure consultation services.
In October 2018, HOB GmbH & Co. KG went into bankruptcy and self-administration, shortly after closing down its overseas development branch in Malta.