Distribution will run through a newly created subsidiary, 11 Trading Company, LLC, and will include products ranging from AV receivers, HiFi equipment, mini systems, smart speakers, turntables, sound bars, home theater systems, optical disc players and more, broadening the Company’s portfolio to include a diverse mix of audio products. Just one year before that, in 2018 Onkyo performed a similar deal that turned over European distribution to Austrian company Aquipa GmbH. He reassured dealers that both OPC and 11 TC would honor product warranties. But the entity formerly known as Onkyo USA Corporation is no more, ending a 45-year run as Onkyo's exclusive sales, marketing and distribution division for the Americas, effective July 29, 2020. However, I'd like to keep a more optimistic view that there is still a large enough audience of those that will continue to embrace home theater components especially in these times when movie theaters are closed. Get the Audioholics AV Gear Guide Ebook FREE! Sausto will become a senior advisor for this partnership in the Americas. Onkyo and Pioneer Corporation will continue to distribute Klipsch branded products in Japan. By the way, undoubtedly, some of you have large, acoustically treated home theater rooms with beautifully designed interiors, projectors, screens, all set up by professional home theater installers. As an Onkyo fan, I'm rooting for them. Brands that stick to their roots while also embracing the demands for tomorrow will continue to flourish. He's a big hockey fan as you'd expect from a Canadian. Onkyo USA Hands Distribution to Klipsch: Is Onkyo in Trouble. But Onkyo audio-video systems aren’t about to disappear from the shores of North America. Who wouldn't want fine audio for their own living-room? In decades past young men, the primary demographic for a hi-fi system in the 1960s, were tantalized by fine home audio ads while reading Joe Namath talk about living "good life" in a Playboy Magazine interview. Onkyo remains family-owned, with the Ohtsuki family still the majority shareholder with a 26% stake in the company. But In lieu of a living room of their own, today's young people turn to mobile devices, headphones or maybe a soundbar. Join our Exclusive Audioholics E-Book Membership Program! I can dig it. Copyright © 1998–2020 Audioholics, LLC. In the last decade, we've seen consumer audio-video technology getting smaller, more mobile and wireless. The notice received by dealers hints that the COVID-19 crisis may have played a role in the sudden switch, stating that "recent changes in the world economy" have contributed to the decision to enter into this deal with Voxx. Despite growth in the bookends of the retail spectrum, dollar stores and luxury retailers like Apple Stores, boarded-up neighborhood shopping malls and closures of traditional department stores have led many to conclude that traditional retail is being killed off by online shopping. › Distribution will run through a newly created subsidiary, 11 Trading Company, LLC, and will include products ranging from AV receivers, HiFi equipment, mini systems, smart speakers, turntables, sound bars, home theater systems, optical disc players and more, broadening the Company’s portfolio to include a diverse mix of audio products. I truly hope the company isn't going anywhere soon. In his book, The Four (Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google), Marketing guru and NYU Prof. Scott Galloway writes of similar modernization-pain occurring in the retail landscape. - Scott Galloway, The Four. ", - Gene DellaSala, President of Audioholics.com. The latest move positions Klipsch Group to offer a vast and complete audio solutions portfolio in the Americas, while continuing to deliver world-class service to its channel partners and consumers alike. What do you think this means for the future of Onkyo? So, perhaps home A/V systems aren't experiencing less demand, so much as fewer young people can afford the home to put it in. Wayde is a tech-writer and content marketing consultant in Canada s tech hub Waterloo, Ontario and Editorialist for Audioholics.com. mega-audio-conglomerate-making sale only got as far as a non-binding term sheet, Sound United Terminates Acquisition of Onkyo & Pioneer. Paul Jacobs and the Klipsch team have done an excellent job in developing high-end, premium audio solutions, while expanding distribution and partnerships. In theory, nothing really changes for customers and dealers, except that instead of Onkyo USA they’ll get product from the company that owns Klipsch. On an earlier attempt to buy an amp from them (Jan.2019), they ran into problems with customs and had four shipments of Chinese parts and OEM CD players impounded. The sale would have provided Sound United with Onkyo's own respected properties that expanded with its purchase of Pioneer in 2015. Meanwhile, A/V for the home converges with home automation ecosystems. Klipsch announced it will expand its strategic distribution alliance with Onkyo and Pioneer Corporation, which is 100% owned subsidiary of Onkyo Corporation, by selling and marketing their products in the Americas immediately. Onkyo keeps getting leaner, could shedding weight be a sign of where Onkyo is going? Prepare for AV Shipping Delays and Product Shortages Thanks To COVID-19. Onkyo is one of Japan's most venerable audio companies that's been in business since 1946 and recently celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2016. Perhaps it's just that middle-ground between the two extremes bottoming out. The first will be known as Klipsch Group, Inc., which the company says will be responsible for the Klipsch brand, but also for Jamo, Energy, and ProMedia speaker brands. To learn more about Onkyo, Visit www.onkyo.com. All Rights Reserved. Regardless of the company's future direction, Onkyo remains one of the most reliable brands in the mid-tier home A/V market, but the industry itself is changing rapidly. Published: July 31, 2020 ⋅ Updated: August 3, 2020. Retailing›Distributors, Distribution effective immediately through newly created subsidiary, 11 Trading Company, LLC, TWICE Staff ⋅ The company has reached an agreement with Klipsch owner, Voxx International Corp to replace Onkyo USA. “We’re excited to expand this strategic partnership from Japan into the Americas and are confident that Klipsch is the ideal partner to drive our business to the next level,” said Jason Sausto, CEO of Onkyo USA Corporation in a statement. Distribution of Onkyo, Pioneer, Integra and Elite products has changed hands from Onkyo USA to 11 Trading Company." © 2020 TWICE is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. "We keep hearing how the specialty audio industry is shrinking as Gen Z'ers embrace portability and streaming as their de facto standard for AV consumption. By not opening the carton, it will be “New”. Emotiva (claims) to have now shipped the amplifier to me. For more stories like this, and to keep up to date with all our market leading news, features and analysis, sign up to our newsletter here. Over the past month, North American Onkyo dealers were notified of an abrupt distribution change in a “notice of termination” for their agreement with Onkyo USA, the division of Onkyo will no longer be fulfilling orders. For its part of the new “strategic distribution alliance”, Voxx has created a dedicated subsidiary called "11 Trading Company LLC" that will handle all ongoing Onkyo/Pioneer orders, warranties, returns and customer support. For its part of the new “strategic distribution alliance”, Voxx has created a dedicated subsidiary called "11 Trading Company LLC" that will handle all ongoing Onkyo/Pioneer orders, warranties, returns and customer support. Update my browser now, Home Onkyo U.S.A. Closed Down Sausto went on to tell dealers that OUSA sold all of their remaining parts and products to the new distributor, 11 Trading Company, LLC (11 TC) – a new entity set up by Voxx under their Klipsch subsidiary. Wayde is also US Army veteran, but his favorite title is just "Dad". This is telling US consumers that we should not trust Onkyo as evidenced by major retailers no longer carrying your products. A call to Onkyo USA's customer service line indicated the number is no longer in service. The potential mega-audio-conglomerate-making sale only got as far as a non-binding term sheet between the two companies in 2019 before talks were terminated. News of Onkyo’s North American distribution hand-off comes one year after talks fell through that would have sold Onkyo's entire home A/V business to Sound United, owner of a stable of familiar brands that includes Denon, Heos, Polk Audio and Marantz. With uncertainty over whether they could resume manufacturing , I cancelled that order. Confused about what AV Gear to buy or how to set it up? I'm not envious or trying to “Keep Up with The Joneses” but my environment is more modest: not a true home theater, but rather. The COVID-19 crisis has been difficult for us all, but one area of the economy that's been particularly hard hit is retail sales.