DailyTech - JVC, Kenwood Join Forces

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Gadgets JVC, Kenwood Join Forces
Wolfgang Hansson (Blog) - July 26, 2007 10:36 AM

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11 comment(s) - last by afkrotch.. on Aug 5 at 4:08 PM

JVC and Kenwood to merge for cost savings and development resources

JVC and Kenwood yesterday announced the two companies would form a merger of sorts to collaborate on product development and save costs. Both companies are discussing a merger under a holding company, but there is no firm completion date or decision for a new brand at this time.

JVC will issue 35 billion yen, the equivalent of $290 million USD, in new shares for the deal. Kenwood will purchase a 17% stake in JVC for 20 billion yen, the equivalent of $167 million USD. The Sparx Group, Kenwood’s top shareholder, will purchase the remaining 15 billion yen, the equivalent of $125 million USD, for a 12.8% stake.

Under the strategic alliance, both companies will work together on car, home and portable audio electronics, said Shoichiro Eguchi, President, Kenwood USA. The companies will unify management as well, he added.

"A unification of resources offers added value and competitiveness in the market, and we look forward to new opportunities in the consumer electronics markets," Eguchi said.

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Deal

By mdogs444 on 7/26/2007 12:47:43 PM , Rating: 2

Perhaps a good deal for both of those companies. Kenwood has a much better name in the Car Audio department. But besides that, I don't own any products from either manufacturer - as for my interests, they aren't at the top for Home Audio, Televisions, and Consumer Electronics.

RE: Deal

By pnyffeler on 7/26/2007 1:25:00 PM , Rating: 2

I was surprised to hear that the two companies were still in business...

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RE: Deal

By toattett on 7/27/2007 8:34:15 AM , Rating: 2

They aren't very popular in North America, but if you walk into a Electronics store in Asia, their products are everywhere.

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RE: Deal

By afkrotch on 8/5/2007 4:08:58 PM , Rating: 1

JVC makes more than just regular consumer good. Like all those professional video cameras.

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RE: Deal

By Mitch101 on 7/26/2007 1:46:33 PM , Rating: 3

I have both a Kenwood Reciever and Car Unit and both are excellent products. Very warm sound and very solid products. Not a single problem with either in the last 3-4 years of constant use.

My Kenwood car CD player has never skipped even with the worst of CD's which do not do well in my Wife's car which has a high end factory unit which I belive is made by Alpine.

My Kenwood home receiver for my home theater is loaded and has pure excellent sound especially when paired with quality speakers.

I cant speak for Kenwood when it comes to speakers though. I think that department can use a little improvement the last time I played with kenwood speakers.

JVC I consider to be a camcorder company as I know they make other products but its their camcorders which I feel is thier biggest asset. But how long before we finally get a digital camera with a light on it to kill off the camcorder.

In all I would think this is more a win for JVC in the consumer lineup. I cant speak for thier commerical lines.

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RE: Deal

By Scabies on 7/26/2007 3:33:01 PM , Rating: 2

I had a JVC MX-GT90 shelf stereo. Hideous, but the best sounding 350w-550w system I have heard since. It hit all ranges perfectly, the only problem was the deep bass somehow got LOUDER the further away you were.. something to do with the porting? I dunno, but something short circuited on it after four years of use (and countless times of lugging it to parties, summer programs, etc) and rendered everything inside useless. I actually cried.
As far as I know, their cheap stuff is, suprise, cheap, but when you get in mid-higher spending range, you wont be disappointed in JVC Audio.
Cant speak for Kenwood, I just know they've been around forever, and there must be a reason.

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RE: Deal

By Samus on 7/26/2007 3:38:03 PM , Rating: 2

Saw this coming, expecially regarding the car audio sector... They have nearly-identical products.

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RE: Deal

By kenji4life on 7/26/2007 8:32:44 PM , Rating: 2

quote:
Kenwood has a much better name in the Car Audio department.

JVC's high end stuff isn't found easily at places like BB or CC.

Their Digifine line of car audio is very good. I would compare it to nakamichi and eclipse.

Some idiot tryed to steal my digifine deck. He pryed on it so hard that it bent the bracket through which the motor controls the angle adjustment and eject functions operates. Needless to say, the deck still works beautifully.

The Burr Brown DAC, front, rear, and subwoofer 5 volt preouts, and the mp3 playback were things that when I purchased the deck, were only in the highest end.

For those that remember, this is when sony released Xplod (yes, likely to) line, and stopped making what car audio enthusiasts considered to be quality stuff.

All of that being said, if I had to choose between a high end kenwood excelon deck and a jvc digifine deck in sleek matte black brushed aluminum, I'll take the digifine 8 days a week.

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Am I the only pesimist?

By DeepBlue1975 on 7/26/2007 1:05:40 PM , Rating: 3

Am I the only pessimist who thinks that some years from now we'll have just a handful of giant, globally powerful commercial corporations offering very little market diversification and leaving even less space to competition?
Joint / buyout / takeover news seem to be coming like a flow while "industry newcomer that gets big and holds promise" are scarce and so far between...

I just miss the diversity we had in the 80s and 90s, when we had innovation and new initiatives coming along from all fronts, and now every industry's sector seems to end up with no more than 2 or 3 very large competitors and no newcomers at all.

I'm beginning to (ironically) imagine an article coming some months in the future and saying "Samsung buys JVC + Kenwood"...