Telefunken was a German radio and television producer, founded in Berlin in 1903 as a joint venture between Siemens & Halske and the Allgemeine Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft (AEG) ("General electricity company").

[5] Around the start of the 20th century, two groups of German researchers worked on the development of techniques for wireless communication.

The one group at AEG, led by Adolf Slaby and Georg Graf von Arco, developed systems for the Kaiserliche Marine; the other one, under Karl Ferdinand Braun, at Siemens, for the German Army.

When a dispute concerning patents arose between the two companies, Kaiser Wilhelm II urged both parties to join efforts, creating Gesellschaft für drahtlose Telegraphie System Telefunken ("The Company for Wireless Telegraphy Ltd.") joint venture on 27 May 1903, with the disputed patents and techniques invested in it.

The Telefunken Kompass Sender operated from 1908 to 1918, allowing the Zeppelins to navigate throughout the North Sea area in any weather.

In 1911 Telefunken built a wireless station in West Sayville just north of the Long Island Rail Road tracks.

The V-72S was the only type of amplifier found in the REDD.37 console used by the Beatles at Abbey Road Studios on many of their early recordings.

During the Second World War, Telefunken was a supplier of vacuum tubes, transmitters and radio relay systems, and developed Funkmess facilities (later referred to as radar devices by the US Navy) and directional finders, as part of the German air defence against aerial bombing.

Thus, Telefunken, under AEG, turned into the smaller subsidiary, with the three divisions realigning and data processing technology, elements as well as broadcast, television and phono.

PAL is established i.e. in the United Kingdom (PAL-I) and, except France, many other European countries -–also in Brazil (PAL-M), Argentina (PAL-N), South Africa, India and Australia.

The first commercially made electronic television sets with cathode-ray tubes were manufactured by Telefunken in Berlin in 1932.

During the Second World War, there were further manufacturing plants in the Berlin area, in Thuringia, Saxony, Moravia, Silesia, on Rügen.

In addition, in Baltic countries at Tallinn and Riga, and in occupied areas of Poland at Kraków and Łódź, floats and works were established.