This article examines the Yupiter open-reel tape recorder as a case study of consumer electronics production in late Soviet Ukraine. Drawing on archival documentation from the Kyiv Kommunist plant, sectoral planning materials, and industrial reports, the study analyzes the institutional and economic conditions that shaped the development of household audio technologies within a centrally planned system. It argues that tape recorders emerged not as market-oriented consumer goods but as products of a defense-oriented radio-electronics industry operating under the constraints of centralized planning. Chronic shortages of components, rigid inter-enterprise coordination, and the priority of military production significantly influenced technological design, production stability, and product availability. These structural factors defined key characteristics of Soviet consumer electronics, including limited innovation, uneven quality, and restricted access for users. By situating the Ukrainian case within a broader comparative perspective, the article highlights the divergence between socialist and market-based trajectories of consumer electronics development and contributes to the integration of Soviet technological experience into global histories of technology.
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