The final death spiral of Pioneer?

[TudorTurtle]

Samsung does not own B&W, B&W is owned by an American company.

I stand corrected. Bowers and Wilkins for Automobile is listed as a brand owned by Harman/Samsung.

 

[jmchrislip]

And so it goes....

 

[prisoners]

You can throw Sony under the bus too, as they have pretty much abandoned audio, at least the affordable, consumer market. They sometimes do not make good decisions. Maybe they will come back like Technics......

You are mistaken. Sony has a line of two channel products under their ES line that are remarkably good and within most enthusiasts budget. I have the HAP Z1ES and the TA-A1ES integrated amplifier, and if I needed speakers they have a beautiful selection of floor standing and two ways that rival all but the most exclusive names.

 

[made in china]

I think for these legacy companies to "come back" they have to slowly shed capacity, talent and workforce to a level commensurate with what the market can support. I am sure Technics is a much smaller company than 40 years ago, but that's better then getting owned by a fund who dismantles everything. Sometimes though, they can't get rid of overhead or pension liabilities and just end up getting parted out by equity firms...

 

[Tom Brennan]

My PD-F1009 may very well be the last piece of Japanese made home stereo gear sold in USA. Bought it new, online from Vanns in 2008.

Nah, there’s still Japanese made gear from Luxman, Marantz and Leben. I wonder if Goto and Onken are still around.

 

[Jbl4345fan]

Sorry to hear that. Pioneer made some fantastic gear in the 70,s. I personally own at one time sx-1280 receiver and other equipment. I wish like hell I still owned it but I still have my sansui G-7000 receiver.

 

[WaynerN]

You are mistaken. Sony has a line of two channel products under their ES line that are remarkably good and within most enthusiasts budget. I have the HAP Z1ES and the TA-A1ES integrated amplifier, and if I needed speakers they have a beautiful selection of floor standing and two ways that rival all but the most exclusive names.

Yeah, that don't sell.....,.

 

[prisoners]

You said Sony abandoned the two channel market; I argued against that. Whether people are buying dedicated stereo equipment or not (they aren’t) is a different argument.

 

[fredgarvin]

Samsung does not own B&W, B&W is owned by an American company.

https://techcrunch.com/2016/05/03/v...kins-bought-out-by-gideon-yus-eva-automation/

 

[twiiii]

Its unfortunate but Marantz, Denon, Mcintosh, ARC are part of conglomerates and investment firms and they are doing OK. But the hand righting was already on the wall when they couldn't come up with a replacement for their fantastic Plasma displays.

 

[Ken Boyd]

The founders of Sony worked on heat seeking missiles for the imperial Japanese Army during WWII. Their major turning point was when they signed a contract with Bell Labs for licensing to manufacture transistors.


With Sony making Play Stations and gaming electronics that probably more than makes up for the profits they made in Stereo gear.

 

[Tom Brennan]

The founders of Sony worked on heat seeking missiles for the imperial Japanese Army during WWII...

Their major difficulty was in getting the missile to make a 180 degree turn and then home in on its firer. After several abortive tests and much wasted time and money the Japanese army decided to go back to the cheaper and more reliable system of holding a hand grenade to the head.

 

[mhardy6647]

Y'all do know that Pioneer's home audio business was merged into Onkyo a few years back (2015), yes?
https://www.whathifi.com/news/pioneer-completes-move-to-become-subsidiary-onkyo

 

[bob06]

SME was bought out also from a company in India.

 

[phantomrebel]

SME was bought out also from a company in India.

The Brits seem to be on a roll with letting their hallmark companies be bought out by Indian conglomerates. Land Rover, Jaguar, Tetley tea....

As far as Pioneer, it's a shame, but I always leaned towards Marantz and Technics back in the day (except for car audio). Happy to see the later making high grade equipment today (Technics reference class demos at the RMAF this year were amazing!). That said, I'd love to own a vintage full SPEC system.

 

[donprice]

Anyone know how many stereo/home theater systems were sold in the us last year?

17 million vehicles were sold so the future is in mobile systems.

The average vehicle in the us is 12.5 years old. How old is your audio system?

Don't blame investment banking for lack of customers buying the products.

 

[MaxxVolume]

Sorry to hear that. Pioneer made some fantastic gear in the 70,s. I personally own at one time sx-1280 receiver and other equipment. I wish like hell I still owned it but I still have my sansui G-7000 receiver.

My all-`70s Pioneer silver-faced gear represented some of the best gear of that period. It is my pride & joy....I don`t care that some newer stuff will out-perform it....it only needs to impress ME !

 

[bluesky]

" Another One Bites the Dust "

 

[Sharpstik]

The interest in big amps, speakers and the likes have been taken over by the phone. Even the computer industry is struggling because of the phone. The phone is destroying the economies of the world, not hedge funds.

It is .
It has certainly punctured the camera industry . Apple put them out of business . We once had a chain of 18 . Now , one store , the main one . And it is teetering .

 

[Sharpstik]

How the mighty have fallen.Who would have thought this would be their fate.

8 page article today in the Wall Street Journal detailing General Electric’s demise .