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Company History

Dec. 1946
Established Kasuga Radio Co., Ltd. (predecessor of Kenwood Corporation) in Komagane, Nagano Prefecture
Feb. 1947
Succeeded in manufacturing high-performance radio parts (high-frequency coils)
Jun. 1949
Trio’s high-frequency coil passed the NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) approval certificate for the first time in Japan
Jan. 1950
Renamed Kasuga Radio Industry Corporation
Feb. 1955
Established the Tokyo office in Ota-ku, Tokyo, and began mass production of audio, communications and measuring equipment
Apr. 1957
Began exporting FM tuners for the first time as a Japanese manufacturer
Jan. 1958
Relocated the head office from Akaho, Komagane, Nagano Prefecture to the Tokyo Plant in Yukigaya, Ota-ku, Tokyo
Jan. 1960
Renamed Trio Electronics, Inc.
Oct. 1961
Listed on the second section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange
Sep. 1962
Launched the industry’s first transistor amplifier
Jul. 1963
Established the Hachioji Business Center in Hachioji, Tokyo
Dec. 1963
Set up Company’s first overseas sales firm in the U.S. (present Kenwood U.S.A. Corporation) and began full-scale overseas operations
Jun. 1965
Relocated the head office from Ota-ku, Tokyo to Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Jan. 1966
Fully transistorized audio products for the first time in the industry
Oct. 1969
Listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange
Aug. 1971
Relocated the head office from Shibuya-ku, Tokyo to Meguro-ku, Tokyo
Mar. 1978
Entered the commercial wireless radio equipment field, by introducing commercial wireless radio terminal in Japan
Apr. 1979
Set up Company’s first overseas production firm in Singapore (present Kenwood Electronics Technologies (S) Pte. Ltd.)
Apr. 1980
Entered the car audio field, launching car audio systems in the U.S.
Dec. 1980
Relocated the head office from Meguro-ku, Tokyo to Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Jul. 1981
Set up production subsidiary Tohoku Trio (present Kenwood Yamagata Corp.) in Tsuruoka, Yamagata Prefecture
Aug. 1981
Decided on “KENWOOD” as the corporate brand
Sep. 1982
Entered the portable audio field, introducing portable FM radio
May 1983
Entered the Business & Industry sector of commercial wireless radio field, by beginning to sell Land Mobile Radio equipment in the U.S.
Jun. 1986
Renamed Kenwood Corporation
Aug. 1989
Established the Yokohama Business Center in Midori-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture
Aug. 1989
Entered the public safety sector of commercial wireless radio field, by beginning to sell Land Mobile Radio equipment, establishing the base for commercial wireless radio business
Jun. 1990
Set up production subsidiary Kenwood Nagano Corporation in Ina, Nagano Prefecture
Oct. 1991
Developed the radio systems for F1 world championship race and began an official supplier contract with the Team McLaren
Mar. 1992
Entered the car navigation system field, launching the industry's first 1DIN-size GPS car navigation system
Mar. 1994
Entered the mobile phone field, introducing digital mobile phones
Dec. 1996
Entered the mobile phone field for overseas markets, by launching GSM phones
Feb. 1997
Supplied Real Focus Sound System for Forester and 2nd Legacy of Subaru, establishing the base for the OEM business
Apr. 1998
Entered the PC peripheral device field, introducing the industry’s fastest 40x CD-ROM drive
Nov. 2000
Withdrew from the GSM phone and CD-ROM drive businesses
Mar. 2001
Announced the “Mid-term Reconstruction Plan”
Sep. 2001
Issued new shares worth a total of 7.1 billion yen through a third-party allocation
May 2002
Booked negative net worth in the fiscal year ended March 2002, and announced the “Kenwood Revitalization Plan”
May 2002
Withdrew from the test and measuring equipment business
Jun. 2002
Relocated the head office from Shibuya-ku, Tokyo to the Hachioji Office in Hachioji, Tokyo
Jul. 2002
Announcedthe “Revitalization Action Plan”
Oct. 2002
Issued new shares worth a total of 2.0 billion yen through a third-party allocation
Nov. 2002
Withdrew from development/production of digital mobile phones
Dec. 2002
Eliminated negative net worth through a debt-for-equity swap amounting to 25.0 billion yen
Feb. 2003
Launched “Production Innovation” activities under the slogan of “KENWOOD Quarter QCD (quality, cost and delivery) Revolution”
May 2003
Accomplished a V-shaped recovery in earnings as a result of four structural reforms, and posted a record consolidated net income in the fiscal year ended March 2003
May 2003
Announced the first mid-term business plan “Excellent Kenwood Plan”
Sep. 2003
Announced the “Seamless Entertainment” concept that integrates car electronics and home electronics
May 2004
Posted a record consolidated net income in the fiscal year ended March 2004 for the second consecutive year by enhancing consolidated management and implementing “Production Innovation” activities
Jun. 2004
Acquired the wireless radio operations of Toyo Communication Equipment Co., Ltd.
Aug. 2004
Completed the “New Financial Strategy”, and entirely eliminated cumulative loss, redeemed the first tranche class-A preferred stocks, terminated financial agreements, and substantially reduced interest-bearing debts
Feb. 2005
Formed a technical and capital alliance with Icom Inc. to jointly research the standardization of technical specifications for digital wireless radio equipment
May 2005
Formulated the second mid-term business plan “Value Creation Plan”
Jun. 2005
Resumed dividend payments for the first time in six years
Aug. 2005
Redeemed the first tranche class-B preferred stock, thereby completely redeemed all preferred stocks that were issued in association with a debt-for-equity swap
Jun. 2007
Blaupunkt and Kenwood planed cooperation, partnership in portable navigation Innovative features for globally usable devices
Mar. 2007
Entered into a tie-up with EADS Secure Networks North America, a company of the group headed by the leading European aerospace and defense corporation EADS, to mutually supply Digital Land Mobile Radio equipment
Mar. 2007
Launched the “dPMR MoU Group” voluntary organization jointly with Icom Inc. and radio equipment companies in Europe in order to establish standards for commercial digital wireless radio equipment for business & industry sectors
May 2007
Converted Zetron, Inc., a U.S. systems-based communication company into a subsidiary
Aug. 2007
Invested 20.0 billion yen and formed a strategic business alliance in/with Victor Company of Japan, Limited

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