Audio Magnetics was founded in California, USA, in the 1960s. Initially, it was located in Gardena, then Irvine. Initially, all cassette tapes were manufactured there. By 1970, production was moved to Mexico. Only high-quality models, such as the QHF and XHE, were still manufactured in the US. Around this time, the company was sold to toy maker Mattel.
In the early 1970s, production was established in Portugal, primarily to meet the growing demand for OEM cassettes for department stores and similar establishments; the company's own Audio Magnetics brand was also manufactured there. However, the company's European headquarters were in Geneva, Switzerland. The Portuguese factory even produced enclosures with an adapted BASF design, which were then sold locally under the BASF LH brand.
Around 1980-82, the European division became independent and continued operating under the name Euro Audio, but disappeared by 1984/85 at the latest. Around this time, the Audio Magnetics brand was revived, with a company address in Driebergen, Holland, and was used for all types of cassettes from Hong Kong.
The tape material in Portuguese cassettes was likely manufactured there; the formulations appear to be the same as those used in cassettes from Mexico and the United States. During the Euro Audio era, there were also proprietary new designs called EX-I-S and EX-II-S, with the additional designation "Epitaxial," like Maxell. The cassette cases were also copies of Maxell on the outside, but internally they still used the Audio Magnetics layout from the early 1970s. The Type II cassette is definitely coated with FeCo, and the Type I is likely the same.
Type II cassettes from Audio Magnetics USA/Mexico were called High Performance II, while the Portuguese ones were called XHE II. Technically, they were identical: FeCo tape and a tinted transparent XHE shell with paraflo guides.
Canadian Type II cassettes initially only offered XHE Ultra II in the "color" series, as shown in my photos above. These were also FeCo tapes, likely even manufactured in Canada. A later series, in addition to the XHE Ultra II, also included the XHE HD II.