| January 12, 2005 |
| KENWOOD News |
At the Winter Consumer Electronics Show (WCES) 2005 in Las Vegas, KENWOOD launched its special promotion commemorating the 25th anniversary of its entry in the car electronics field.
Brand promotion will be conducted, through the introduction of Hi-Fi quality special models in the Americas, Europe and Asia.
As new products for 2005, KENWOOD will introduce a lineup of models that can be connected with iPods
KENWOOD Corporation (President: Haruo Kawahara; Head office: Hachioji, Tokyo) has produced a limited edition series of special models, commemorating the 25th anniversary of its entry into the automotive electronics business, and will launch them in the Americas, Europe and Asia. As a first step, the company is announcing the new models at the Winter Consumer Electronics Show (WCES) in Las Vegas, from January 6.
1. 25th anniversary special models and new product lineup for 2005
[Logo for 25th anniversary special models]
[25th anniversary special models]
On the 25th anniversary of its entry into the car electronics business, KENWOOD is producing special models "25th Anniversary Model Series," which the Sound Meister, the pride of the company, developed by combining high fidelity technologies accumulated over many years. KENWOOD will promote sales of the new models worldwide, launching them in the Americas, Europe and Asia (except Japan) from May.
The "25th Anniversary Model Series" is a high-end series which offers a full lineup of products, including a TV/DVD receiver, CD receiver, stereo power amplifier and speaker system. They feature the high fidelity that could only be realized by the skills of Sound Meister and incorporate a sophisticated, luxurious design.
| Item | Model No. | Reference price | Launch date |
| TV receiver/DVD player | XXV-05V | approx. US$2,200 | May |
| CD player/receiver | XXV-01D | approx. US$580 | May |
| 4ch power amplifier | XXV-02A | approx. US$580 | May |
| D-class monaural power amplifier for sub-woofer | XXV-03A | approx. US$580 | May |
| Speaker system | XXV-04S | approx. US$900 | May |
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| XXV-05V | XXV-01D |
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| XXV-02A | XXV-03A |
 XXV-04S | |
[New product lineups for 2005]
KENWOOD has provided a lineup of new products for 2005, targeting overseas markets, under the concepts of "Easy use" and "Fine visibility." They include models which through an advanced codec drive (AC drive) can be linked with PC applications, the first such design in the industry, and an iPod connection module that enables connection of KENWOOD's car electronics products with iPod of Apple Computer, Inc. and allows KENWOOD's devices to reproduce music stored on iPod in high sound-quality, operate iPod and display texts stored on iPod on the screen.
The iPod connection module enables connection of iPod and many KENWOOD car electronics products, including CD receivers which are now on sale.
2. New Brand Image Strategy
KENWOOD, jointly with British brand strategy consulting firm Interbrand, has promoted the "New Brand Image Strategy," which is intended to strengthen the presence of the KENWOOD brand and provide new values, under the leadership of the brand management project team that was newly established in January 2004.
In the project, KENWOOD has reviewed the "Brand Logo" and newly formulated its "Brand Statement" as a comprehensive brand strategy. Concurrently, the company established its "Corporate Activity Guidelines" and five "Core Values" based on the "Corporate Vision." And from the beginning of this year, the reborn KENWOOD will extensively be appealed around the world, beginning with the WCES 2005 in Las Vegas, while leveraging the newly produced 25th anniversary special models.
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[Vision]3. History of KENWOOD's car electronics business
In 1946, KENWOOD was established in Nagano Prefecture as a manufacturer of radios, which then produced and developed high-frequency coils by overcoming problems of weak radio waves, due to its mountainous environment. This high-frequency technology became the basis for producing home audio equipment and radio devices with KENWOOD FM tuners soon rated as the best in the world. KENWOOD, which developed as a corporation with "audio and wireless radio communications" as its core competence, advanced into the automotive electronics field in 1980, by launching car audio systems, which the company commercialized in Japan and the US by using home audio technologies it accumulated ever since its foundation. The following year, KENWOOD also introduced car audio equipment in Europe. Thus, the company succeeded in having car electronics operations running worldwide within only two years. Following this, KENWOOD launched a great number of novel and sophisticated car audio systems, including the industry's first Pull-out model, the "MASK" equipped with anti-theft and MP3 models, leveraging its powerful capabilities of marketing, developing products and designing. Through these efforts, KENWOOD established a high brand presence in various countries. Continued pursuit of a high sound-quality has contributed to not only devising car electronics but also to developing new systems and materials to innovate car speakers.
In 1992, KENWOOD entered the car navigation field, and since then the company has been developing products with emphasis on the user interface design, adopting the touch-sensitive panel method and the voice-recognition system earlier than any other rivals. In recent years, the company has been proposing new, attractive car electronics for the market. One example is the commercialization of a "THEATER-NAVI" system featuring both functionality and entertainment that can transform the car into a theater. To develop this system, the company combined a DVD receiver and a HDD navigation system. Furthermore, at the end of last year KENWOOD reviewed and abandoned structure of jointly developing car navigation systems with other firms. After completing in-house development of such products using proprietary technologies, the company has begun shipping them through its special sales channels. During the present fourth quarter, KENWOOD will commence to sell the systems in the consumer market, planning to introduce them into the chief battleground in the next fiscal year on a full-scale basis.
KENWOOD has quickly responded to the advent of the digital "Sirius" satellite broadcasting system and terrestrial digital broadcasting "HD Radio", which are proliferating starting from the US. The company will produce car audio and multimedia systems compatible with iPod of Apple Computer, Inc. KENWOOD will also step up its efforts to realize digital entertainment, which users can enjoy wherever they are, "home or away," for example, by making car electronics and home electronics systems seamless through the optimal utilization of digital and network technologies.
4. Strengthening U.S. sales system
On November 15, 2004, KENWOOD opened an office to prepare for the establishment of an integrated supervisory body for the Americas, aiming to strengthen its response capability towards the US market and boost sales in the emerging market, Mexico and the rest of Latin America.
The company recruited Mikio Kamimura, who had worked as an engineer at General Electric and then served as the top executive of Sun Microsystems K.K. and head of the Veritas Software K.K office. KENWOOD will enhance the sales system of the Americas, through the office, which controls KENWOOD U.S.A. Corporation, KENWOOD Electronics Latin America S.A. (Panama) and KENWOOD Electronics Canada Inc.
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For queries regarding this article, please contact:
Public Relations Office
KENWOOD Corporation (Japan)
Tel: +81-426-46-6724
Fax: +81-426-46-1440
Email: pr.qa@pr.kenwood.co.jp
Updated 05/01/12 (C) 2005 KENWOOD Corporation