Onkyo and Pioneer to join Sound United

One Stop Shop?

by Andy Bassett
In what is being seen as a pretty big move in the audio world, Denon and Marantz parent company, Sound United, has been in acquisition talks with Onkyo Home Audio, which also owns the Pioneer brand.
Sound United, who own Polk Audio, Marantz, Definitive Technology, HEOS, Classé and Boston Acoustics as well as Denon and Marantz, has entered into a preliminary agreement to acquire the Onkyo consumer audio division which would also give them the Pioneer, Pioneer Elite and Integra brands.

According to the press release, under the proposed deal, the current CEO of Sound United, Kevin Duffy would assume the CEO mantle of the combined businesses, and the expanded portfolio “will allow Sound United to better serve consumers with premium products tailored to their specific needs.”

The acquisition means that Sound United now have a huge array of audio products at its disposal including, Hi-Fi equipment, turntables, soundbars, home cinema systems and optical disc players.

The additional brands now incorporated under Sound United’s umbrella will now include smart speakers and wireless technologies that will allow Sound United to fuel their own goals of becoming a leader in the growing wireless, voice-enabled and soundbar categories.

And with Onkyo and Pioneer joining Denon and Marantz in the fold, Sound United will have 4 major AV Receiver brands in one place. Whether features and functions will be consolidated across all brands or specificity will be introduced to certain receivers for marketing purposes is not known at this point. The company does state though, that they are ready to invest in the opportunities provided by Onkyo and Pioneer’s legacy innovation of electrical and acoustic engineering, combined with manufacturing efficiencies and faster development cycles to introduce brand new premium products to the marketplace.

Kevin Duffy commented, “We are thrilled by the opportunity to add the venerable Onkyo and Pioneer brands to our portfolio. Sound United is one of the leading dedicated providers of premium audio/video products, and we believe the combined businesses will bring unrivalled innovation and sound performance to our consumers and channel partners.” He added further, “Upon completion of the transaction, we will work tirelessly with the consumer audio division of Onkyo Corporation to ensure a seamless transition into the Sound United family so that all employees, customers and channel partners benefit from the enhanced breadth and depth of the new organisation."

Onkyo will retain certain rights, including those for Digital Life, which focuses on portable media player and microsystems.

What do you think of this latest business move in the audio world? Good for consumers or shareholders? Will delineation in brand names actually mean anything going forward? Let us know your thoughts in the discussion thread.

Source: Sound United press release,
Image Source: Sound United, 1000logos.net, logos-download.com

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