About Elektronik

Elektronik

Elektronik is one of Germany's longest-running professional electronics magazines, serving engineers, developers, and decision-makers in industrial electronics since the 1950s. Published biweekly from Haar near Munich by WEKA FACHMEDIEN GmbH, it addresses almost exclusively engineering professionals with technically demanding articles — most written by external experts from universities and industry — and documented source references. Its online portal elektroniknet.de, live since 1998, ranks among the leading German-language web services for professional electronics. Following WEKA Fachmedien's acquisition by NürnbergMesse, the title sits within a trade-fair group's media portfolio, linking editorial coverage with the industry's event calendar.

Overview

Elektronik appears every two weeks as a specialist magazine for professional electronics — "Fachmedium für industrielle Anwender und Entwickler" (specialist medium for industrial users and developers). Its readership is the engineering core of the electronics industry: development engineers, hardware and software designers, purchasers of electronic components, and technical managers. Unlike hobbyist electronics magazines, Elektronik addresses its readers at a professional technical level, with articles that assume engineering literacy and cite their sources.

The editorial model is distinctive: most articles are written by external authors — researchers from universities and technical institutes, or developers of new products from companies — rather than by staff editors. This gives the magazine the character of a professional forum, where the industry's own experts present their work, and it explains the emphasis on documented references (Belegquellenangaben), unusual in trade journalism but standard in engineering publishing. Early decades focused on components and integrated circuits; the modern emphasis lies on microcontroller technology, embedded systems, power electronics, and the full stack of professional electronics.

Circulation was last reported at 11,427 sold copies and 30,581 distributed copies (IVW Q4/2018), the distributed figure reflecting the controlled-circulation model typical of B2B engineering media: qualified recipients receive the magazine free, financed by advertising from component manufacturers, distributors, and test-equipment vendors. The ISSN is 0013-5658, and the CODEN EKRKA marks its indexing in engineering literature databases.

History

The magazine's history reaches back to the 1950s — Wikipedia records a first publication in 1952 — when it appeared in the Franzis-Verlag, the Munich publishing house that shaped generations of German electronics literature. The post-war decades were the heroic age of German electronics: the transistor's arrival, the rise of the semiconductor industry, the automation of manufacturing. Elektronik documented this transformation for the engineers building it, establishing the professional, source-documented editorial culture that still defines the title.

The move to the WEKA publishing group brought the magazine into one of Germany's major B2B media houses. WEKA FACHMEDIEN GmbH, based at Richard-Reitzner-Allee 2 in Haar near Munich, built a portfolio of cross-media brands for the growth markets of electronics, automation, energy technology, and information and communications technology: alongside Elektronik, the house publishes Markt&Technik, DESIGN&ELEKTRONIK, Computer&AUTOMATION, CRN, and funkschau, plus the special-interest titles Elektronik automotive and Elektronik medical — a family of publications that covers the electronics value chain from components through systems to applications.

A significant recent chapter is the acquisition of WEKA Fachmedien by NürnbergMesse, the Nuremberg trade-fair company. The combination of a trade-fair organizer with a B2B media house creates hybrid models of events and content: the editorial brands' industry networks feed the fairs' exhibitor and visitor bases, while the fairs give the publications a physical forum. For Elektronik, this means its coverage of industry trends is increasingly interwoven with the conference and trade-fair calendar — including WEKA's own B2B conferences, forums, and seminars on professional electronics and ICT topics.

Coverage and Content

The magazine's coverage spans the full breadth of professional electronics, organized in eleven editorial sections that mirror the industry's structure: Automation, Automotive, Semiconductors (Halbleiter), Distribution, E-Mechanics, Manufacturing (Fertigung), Embedded, Communication, Passive Components, Test & Measurement (Messen+Testen), Opto(-electronics), and Power. This taxonomy reflects the purchasing and design categories of the electronics engineer: from the microcontroller and the power supply through the connector and the sensor to the production line.

Technology coverage tracks the industry's frontiers: microcontroller architectures and embedded software, power semiconductors and energy efficiency, analog and mixed-signal design, wireless communication, optoelectronics, and test methodologies. Market coverage follows the business of electronics: component-distribution markets (with data from industry bodies such as DMASS Europe), manufacturer strategies, mergers and acquisitions, and the investment cycles of the semiconductor industry. Application coverage addresses the major verticals — automotive electronics, industrial automation, medical electronics, and energy technology — where electronic systems create value.

The interview and reportage formats bring executive voices to the fore: CEOs of mid-sized electronics manufacturers discussing production expansions, distribution executives on market corrections, engineers on design challenges. The external-author model means many articles read as technical papers — detailed, referenced, and practical — distinguishing Elektronik from news-driven competitors. Special issues and the related titles (Elektronik automotive, Elektronik medical, DESIGN&ELEKTRONIK) extend the coverage into verticals and design methodology.

Organization and Ownership

Elektronik is published by WEKA FACHMEDIEN GmbH, Haar near Munich, a company that describes itself as a leading provider of cross-media brands for the growth markets of electronics, automation, energy technology, and ICT. The publisher's portfolio includes the established media brands Markt&Technik, Elektronik, DESIGN&ELEKTRONIK, Computer&AUTOMATION, CRN, and funkschau, together with the overarching online platform elektroniknet.de. WEKA Fachmedien also organizes national and international B2B conferences, trade conventions, forums, and seminars on professional electronics and ICT.

The company was acquired by NürnbergMesse, the trade-fair organizer, integrating the media house into the fair group's portfolio. The stated rationale combines the publisher's print-digital services, high-reach media presence, and industry network with the fair group's event business, developing hybrid models that blend in-person events with digital content. The editor-in-chief of Elektronik was most recently reported as Gerhard Stelzer; current editorial leadership details are not publicly confirmed in the accessible sources. Financial details of the publication are not publicly confirmed.

Digital Presence

The digital flagship is elektroniknet.de, online since 1998 and described by the publisher as the IVW-leading web service for professional electronics. The portal reports around the clock on trends, products, and company news from the electronics world, staffed by what the publisher calls the world's largest electronics editorial team — nearly 30 specialist editors producing news, product reports, and technical knowledge across the eleven editorial sections. Electronics decision-makers in development, purchasing, and management can inform themselves in tailored sections, from automation and automotive through semiconductors and distribution to embedded systems and power.

The portal's longevity — online since the early commercial internet — makes it one of the pioneering B2B web services in German technical publishing. Its daily news operation complements the biweekly print rhythm: breaking industry news, product launches, and market data appear online immediately, while the print magazine provides the deeper technical analysis. Audio versions of selected articles ("Diesen Artikel anhören") reflect the ongoing adaptation to changing media habits.

For a B2B engineering medium, the digital strategy centers on professional utility rather than social-media reach: the searchable article archive, the product databases, and the newsletter services serve engineers who need reliable technical information on demand. The integration with NürnbergMesse's event platforms adds a further digital layer — conferences and trade fairs with digital extensions, where the editorial brands' content and the events' programs reinforce each other. In an industry where the design-in decision for a component can determine years of revenue, elektroniknet.de's role as the always-on information layer beneath the authoritative print magazine gives the brand a durable position in the professional electronics media landscape.