RIP Pioneer? Pioneer looks to divest itself of its AV business

EndersShadow

HDMI board failures and low power receivers here we come :sad:

Hermitism

Danny Tse wrote: »

Pioneer's AV business sold to Hong Kong private equity firm....and Onkyo

http://www.twice.com/news/industry/pioneer-reaches-agreement-sell-home-ce-business/45763

That article says Pioneer is selling off the majority of it's home electronics business. I wonder if they are going to keep a portion of their lower end or higher end electronics for themselves.

mhardy6647

The article also said:

Pioneer will remain in the aftermarket and OEM car electronics businesses.

Hermitism

I'm reading it as if they plan to still keep a small portion of the home electronics for themselves. I just wonder if they did, would they make it entry level stuff that's an easy sell, or high end niche market stuff like their Elite products.

cnh

mhardy6647 wrote: »

The article also said:

Car audio? Surprise! Surprise! And so the Audio-Video business goes. I guess we'll be living out of our cars soon enough?

cnh

mhardy6647

supposedly the current young/almost adult 'generation' isn't too interested in the ownership of a car, so that may not be the best long-term strategy...

nooshinjohn

mhardy6647 wrote: »

supposedly the current young/almost adult 'generation' isn't too interested in the ownership of a car, so that may not be the best long-term strategy...

Sad but true.... for all too many of the up-and-coming generations, the American Dream is alive and well... inside a gaming console of their choice. Why own a car when you can steal one in GTA-V, learn how to relate to your peers in WoW, and conflict resolution courtesy of MoH...

Polkie2009

nooshinjohn wrote: »

Sad but true.... for all too many of the up-and-coming generations, the American Dream is alive and well... inside a gaming console of their choice. Why own a car when you can steal one in GTA-V, learn how to relate to your peers in WoW, and conflict resolution courtesy of MoH...

Sad but true. A lot of young and not so young people these days can't seem to cope in society these days without having their nose buried in a smartphone.

mhardy6647

yeah - they should tote around a laptop to get lost in, like us old guys...

cnh

I'm at a loss for what you guys are referring to as I have a teenager and know dozens of them who are coming of driving age; I cannot think of ONE who does not want to have a car! So?

Now if we're saying more and more young ones cannot afford one! We're on the same page. But if you're saying they are not interested in cars, then we're living on different planets?

I see NO great divide in the desires we had as teenagers and those of this current generation concerning vehicles.

cnh

Talon_Sr

BlueFox wrote: »

Interesting. So Pioneer has gone from making all levels of stereo gear in the 70s, to a car stereo manufacturer. Sounds like good Sony style management. Time for them to give themselves a well deserved bonus. :rolleyes:

Same thing happened with Kenwood, and Yamaha is on its way too.

erniejade

Pioneer was in the car biz for a long long time. My first car stereo was a Pioneer 8track, then a supertuner.

mhardy6647

Yes but they were in the component audio biz for considerably longer... interestingly, their genesis (pun sort of intended) isnt' all thatdifferent than Crown International (now Crown Audio) of Elkhart, Indiana...

Fukuin/Pioneer: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_Corporation
Crown International (now part of Harman): http://www.crownaudio.com/history.htm

xsmi

Did no one read this paragraph?

Pioneer and Onkyo will also “commence discussions with an eye to integrating a part of home A/V business operations between Pioneer and Onkyo,” Pioneer noted. The Onkyo and Pioneer home electronics brands, however, will maintain their separate brand names. - See more at: http://www.twice.com/news/industry/pioneer-reaches-agreement-sell-home-ce-business/45763#sthash.v1wYHaJU.dpuf


They're going to remain in the home market as well unless I'm missing something. My guess IS the higher end, or why stay?

cnh

xsmi wrote: »

Did no one read this paragraph?

Pioneer and Onkyo will also “commence discussions with an eye to integrating a part of home A/V business operations between Pioneer and Onkyo,” Pioneer noted. The Onkyo and Pioneer home electronics brands, however, will maintain their separate brand names. - See more at: http://www.twice.com/news/industry/pioneer-reaches-agreement-sell-home-ce-business/45763#sthash.v1wYHaJU.dpuf


They're going to remain in the home market as well unless I'm missing something. My guess IS the higher end, or why stay?

I saw that but it seems to be some form of doublespeak that really means that the Onkyo group will take over Pioneer in a transitional period and retain the Pioneer branding for now.

I do not think that it means Pioneer will remain active in the long run. They may retain some kind of stock share or not.

If any of you boys are dreaded "hedge fund" managers (and the like) you probably KNOW exactly what this means. lol

cnh

mhardy6647

cnh wrote: »

I saw that but it seems to be some form of doublespeak that really means that the Onkyo group will take over Pioneer in a transitional period and retain the Pioneer branding for now.

I do not think that it means Pioneer will remain active in the long run. They may retain some kind of stock share or not.

If any of you boys are dreaded "hedge fund" managers (and the like) you probably KNOW exactly what this means. lol

cnh

That was also my interpretation (FWIW).

Shades of "Konica-Minolta"?
http://kmbs.konicaminolta.us/wps/portal/web/home/about/our-history

xsmi

Except the first sentence says majority of the A/V assets. So I think it's long term.

BlueFox

xsmi wrote: »

They're going to remain in the home market as well unless I'm missing something. My guess IS the higher end, or why stay?

What about TAD? I can't see them dropping that line.

pitdogg2

I think we may see a larger contractions in the audio world in the near future. Things are moving way too fast for the basic consumer to keep up with in the audio world and the stock holders want their money and they want it NOW. Like the JG Wentworth commercial.

my .02

mhardy6647

da scoop (as seen posted at AK) on da coaxes:
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Home/Speakers/Elite+Speakers/SP-EBS73-LR

erniejade

The Andrew Jones designed SP-B22LR for 129 a set sound amazing for the $. I can imagine what Dolby Atmos ones you are showing would sound like.

cnh

Hmmm! Well, you knew that concentric drivers would appear sooner or later, at least when the "budget" allowed it, and this is an ELITE speaker so it won't be an entry price. But the cabs are NOT particularly heavy and with that top side driver this seems a speaker built almost entirely for home theater! I can't imagine the top driver not causing some problems for strict two channel listening?

All metal drivers with soft dome tweeters in the middle. Well, I guess metal can't do everything!

cnh

WLDock

That one is intriguing with an Elite badge. Will be interesting to see what they sound like.Good to see them go back to 5 speakers. It makes sense to go UP with the sound as 11 speakers in the home is a bit much IMO. They gotta keep trying to sell gear.....