Samsung buys Harman

Started by Elantric, November 14, 2016, 09:04:53 AM

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Elantric

http://www.wsj.com/articles/samsung-to-buy-u-s-auto-parts-supplier-harman-for-8-billion-1479107476

http://www.phonearena.com/news/Samsung-buys-Harman-in-a-massive-8-billion-deal-gets-access-to-Harman-Kardon-and-JBL-brands_id87727

https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-electronics-to-acquire-harman-accelerating-growth-in-automotive-and-connected-technologies

http://www.harman.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harman_International_Industries

Harman International Industries, Incorporated is an American company that designs and engineers connected products for automakers, consumers and enterprises worldwide, including connected car systems; audio and visual products, enterprise automation; and connected services.[3] Headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, Harman maintains major operations in the Americas, Europe, as well as Asia and markets its products under more than twenty brands — including AKG Acoustics, AMX, Crown Audio,Digitech, DOD,  Harman/Kardon, Infinity, JBL, JBL Professional, Lexicon, Mark Levinson, Martin, Revel, Soundcraft and Studer.

Elantric

#1
A good indicator for how small the "Pro Audio Market" has become (and how slanted the news is when they call Harman International  " just an Automotive Audio supplier" ) when you realize that

Samsung just purchased:

* JBL Speakers
http://www.jbl.com/

* Crown Amplifiers
http://www.crownaudio.com/en-US

* dbx studio signal processing
http://dbxpro.com/en-US

* Lexicon studio signal processing
http://www.lexicon.com/

* AKG Microphones, Headphones.
http://www.akg.com/pro/microphones/recording

* Studer recorders
http://www.studer.ch/en-US


* BSS Networked audio
http://bssaudio.com/en-US


* Digitech Guitar FX
http://digitech.com/en-US

* DOD Guitar FX
http://dod.com/en-US


* SM PRO AUDIO
http://www.smproaudio.com/index.php/en/

* SoundCraft Mixers
http://www.soundcraft.com/

* Mark Levinson Hi-Fi
http://www.marklevinson.com/


* Martin pro Audio
https://martin-audio.com/


* Revel Audio
http://revelspeakers.com/

* AMX Audio / Video Switchers
http://www.amx.com/

HecticArt

That's also a bit of a reference of how gigantic Samsung is.
Crazy.
It'll be interesting to see what changes over the next couple of years with all of the Harmon brands.

gumtown

Samsung is huge.
They probably wanted licenced features of most of the Harmon products in their phones, so why not buy it all outright rather than pay licensing fees.

Samsung make decent products, so long as the smoke doesn't escape.  ;D
Free "GR-55 FloorBoard" editor software from https://sourceforge.net/projects/grfloorboard/

HecticArt

Indeed. It's one of those things where you don't quite get the scale of it, until you see it next to something else.


I'm still happy with my Note 4. I'll wait a little while before getting my next one. I'm assuming they will change the name and give it a bit of a makeover before they release the next model though.......

gumtown

Quote from: HecticArt on November 14, 2016, 03:33:07 PMI'm still happy with my Note 4. I'll wait a little while before getting my next one. I'm assuming they will change the name and give it a bit of a makeover before they release the next model though.......
You won't want the Note 7 then, with the exploding battery issues
http://www.parentherald.com/articles/84597/20161114/samsung-galaxy-note-7-update-excellent-phone-when-exploding-details.htm
Free "GR-55 FloorBoard" editor software from https://sourceforge.net/projects/grfloorboard/

HecticArt

Exactly. That's why I figure that they will will change the name and look of it before the next version is released.
They were great phones right up till the smoke starts.

Elantric

#7
QuoteThat's why I figure that they will will change the name and look of it before the next version is released.
They were great phones right up till the smoke starts.

i figure in 2017, Samsung might go for brand "badge engineering"  with rebranded samsung phones as the "Harman-Kardon AudioNote Smartphone" or "Lexicon Smartphone with JBL Speakers"




Harman-Kardon has done similar things before the Samsung Acquisition.

HTC One (M8) Harman Kardon Edition
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2457604,00.asp

thebrushwithin

#8
http://www.anythingresearch.com/industry/Musical-Instrument-Manufacturing.htm
I heard about this comparison 30 years ago, and it seems to still be true. The button, fastener industry is the same size as musical instruments manufacturing. http://www.anythingresearch.com/industry/Fastener-Button-Needle-Pin-Manufacturing.htm

Elantric

#9
Thanks!

probably should rephrase my above post to say

"Compared to 20 years ago, its an indicator for how small Harman International's current ProAudio  / Music Industry Market Share  has become in 2016"

Bulk of their portfolio of brands have become redundant as today software DAW plugins perform most of the duties of a Rack of Lexicon reverbs and dbx compresors,

Who would have thought that Universal Audio would become a DSP FX manufacturer
http://www.uaudio.com/audio-interfaces/apollo-8p.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Audio

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Audio_(company)

http://www.uaudio.com/about/

and JBL Pro audio has stiff competition from other new brands that did not exist 20 years ago  (Alto)

Today at most live events today -  90% of the time I see a Behringer X-32 board  -and that impacts Soundcraft's bottom line

lespauled

So, I guess the Harman earbuds I bought today were now Samsung. ::) ;D

Elantric

i figure in 2017-2018, Samsung might go for brand "badge engineering"  with rebranded samsung phones as the "Harman-Kardon AudioNote Smartphone" or "Lexicon Smartphone with JBL Speakers"
As predicted
http://www.knowyourmobile.com/mobile-phones/23893/samsung-galaxy-s9-galaxy-note-9-feature-harman-audio-2018

QuoteSamsung may incorporate Harman audio technology in its 2018 flagship lineup

Despite its recent troubles that have put big dents in the company finances, Samsung is still out there sensibly living the business ethos of "you gotta spend money to make money," with the Korean firm recently acquiring audio company Harman for a cool $8bn.

On November 21, Samsung and Harman held a join press conference in Seoul, South Korea, where the duo outlined future plans and in doing so hinted that Harman audio capabilities could well find their way into Samsung's 2018 mobile portfolio.

Speaking to assembled press, Park Jong-hwan, Samsung's head of automotive, said, "It will take time for the acquisition process to be completed, including the planned shareholders' vote. After that, we could ramp up efforts for business synergies. If we are to adopt Harman's high-end audio technology for the Galaxy S series phone, the first model could come in 2018."

Samsung also clarified that it is not entering into the automative business, but will continue to develop "connected car" solutions.

Now, of course it's an assumption, but not an ill-educated one, that Samsung's lead model in 2018 will be its Galaxy S flagship brand, by then it'll be the Galaxy S9, as the Galaxy S8 is due to launch in February 2017. Not only that, but a Galaxy Note 9 seems another likely candidate, as it often piggybacks off major Galaxy S features introduced in the same model year.

Despite the Galaxy Note 7 "explosiongate" debacle, which saw the discontinuation of the handset and raised rumours about an axing of the brand altogether, it's understood Samsung plans to continue the brand in 2017 and probably 2018. Samsung recently announced an exchange program whereby Galaxy Note 7 owners could exchange their faulty units for a Galaxy S7 and would be guaraunteed an upgrade to the Galaxy S8 or Galaxy Note 8 on launch in 2017 while only paying 50% of the price of the Galaxy S7 for said uprade. Such a scheme, coming officially from Samsung, is practically concrete confirmation of its plans to produce both a Galaxy S8 and Galaxy Note 8 next year.

montyrivers

Oh great, now I need to worry about my JBL's and Crown amps catching fire.  :p

admin

QuoteSamsung has completed the purchase of Harman
"Today is a historic moment for us. The close of this transaction opens the door to create substantial growth opportunities and deliver greater benefits for customers worldwide," said Young Sohn, President and Chief Strategy Officer of Samsung Electronics, and Chairman of the Board, HARMAN. "We see transformative opportunities in the car – and a future which seamlessly connects lifestyle across automotive, home, mobile and work. Samsung's and HARMAN's leadership in these spaces perfectly positions Samsung to be the preferred partner to our OEM customers. In addition, bringing together HARMAN's iconic audio brands and capabilities paired with Samsung's leading display technologies will deliver enhanced audio and video experiences to consumers and professional end markets. And most importantly, we are enthusiastic about our common vision, the similarities in our culture of innovation, and the added value we can create for customers. We look forward to working with all of HARMAN's employees to execute on our vision."

"We are excited to have completed the transaction, which provides compelling cash value to our stockholders, benefits our customers and provides new opportunities for our employees," said Dinesh Paliwal, HARMAN President and CEO. "Samsung shares our commitment to our customers and our culture of speed, innovation and execution. Samsung provides HARMAN with the scale, platform and complementary technologies to accelerate growth and extend our global market leadership in automotive, smart audio and connected technologies. Recognizing the importance of partnerships in an increasingly connected world, particularly in automotive, we are poised to leverage our combined teams and resources to produce even greater value for our customers. Working closely with automakers and other technology companies, Samsung and HARMAN will define – and drive – the future of automotive."

admin

#14

http://www.smproaudio.com/index.php/en/products/v-machines/v-machine

(and poof - no more )
http://www.smproaudio.com/index.php/en/dealers-distributors



Harman in Northridge, Calif., announced its acquisition of SM Pro Audio in January 2015.

Harman incorporated SM Pro Audio products into the Harman Professional Division as a developer of pro audio and musical instrument (MI) technologies across Harman's professional product brands.

From February 2016 warranty for all SM Pro Audio products expires.

Our team will assist with any available spare parts and repairs where possible.

Please contact us if in need of assistance. We will do our best to support you.



And on Nov. 15, 2016 Samung purchased Harman Professional and that was the end of SM Pro Audio. 

admin

#15
Ex AKG engineers (laid off by Samsung) form new company

https://www.gearnews.com/ex-akg-employees-found-austrian-audio-to-bring-back-the-vienna-sound/



GEARNEWS
Facebook
Ex-AKG employees found Austrian Audio to bring back the "Vienna sound"
Approximate reading time: 2 Minutes

Vienna is the home of a new contender in the pro audio industry, the aptly named Austrian Audio. Such branding does carry a lot of ambition, which the manufacturer appears to have in spades. In its initial offering, Austrian is introducing 8 new products in 5 categories – handmade microphones, digital control, DSP software, headphones, and test/measurement equipment for audio manufacturers.

OC18 and OC818 condenser mics
Of most interest to musicians and producers are probably the OC818 and OC18 large diaphragm condenser microphones, the former multi-pattern and the latter cardioid-only. The OC818 has some interesting and novel features, such as wireless pattern and switching control accomplished via a transmitter/receiver setup attached to the mic rear. Polar patterns range between figure of eight through cardioid and omnidirectional, stretching across 255 discrete polar patterns. Although control is established via a free smartphone application (Android & iOS), the pattern switching is analog with no processing or conversion occurring anywhere in the path.

Additionally, the microphone has a secondary output to enable discrete recording of the rear-facing capsule, or recording of both capsules simultaneously. If both capsules are recorded in Stereo (or dual-mono), the recording can be fed to Austrian's Polar Designer plug-in which offers custom polar patterns with control over 5 bands with adjustable crossover points. Both the OC818 and OC18 will be available in single sets and matched pairs, with or without accessories.

Mics aside, Austrian Audio mentioned two pairs of headphones – the Hi-X50 and Hi-X55. They, as well as the microphones, will be demonstrated at Musikmesse in April, so I expect further information to surface during the event.

From AKG to Austrian Audio
According to a video recently released by the new company, Austrian Audio is made up of former AKG personnel, presumably striving towards professional rather than "prosumer" products. The company plans to prioritise in-house development and keeping manufacturing in Austria, as well as using open-source tech. For example, the PolarDesigner plug-in is open-source and uses code you can find on GitHub.

I will be watching out for announcements from Austrian Audio with great interest. Let's see if "Made in Vienna" can stand for something other than chocolates these days.


admin

Quote from: Bill Ruppert on April 30, 2019, 05:48:09 PM
That is very sad to see Digitech's stuff getting blown out.
That was a great company with great thinkers!
So sad...
https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?posts/28361408/
Digital Igloo ( Eric Klein @ Line-6) wrote> (April 18, 2019)
I don't think anyone bought any of DigiTech's IP; however, the DSP/firmware personnel who developed Drop, FreqOut, Richochet, Trio, SDrum, Time Bender, Whammy V, and others all (now) work at YGG. (  = Line-6  / Yamaha Guitar Group)


https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/q-a-with-eric-klein-a-k-a-digital-igloo.2014867/

mooncaine

Maybe YGG will have the good sense to put their talents to work on a product like the Virtual Jeff, but one that's generally useful to lots of players.
The VJ is designed only to work with a Whammy pedal right now. I've hacked its MIDI stream a bit to get it almost perfect for a VG-99, but it ain't perfect. I was hoping to get some help from the inventor, but he stopped responding; no idea why.

If it had a CV output jack and a built-in MIDI events processor, like the one inside the MIDISolutions Events Processor Plus, then it could be useful for LOTS of devices instead of for merely a single device made by a now-defunct company.
Put the Whammy pedal on the guitar, with a MIDI out and CV out, basically, so it can drive any MIDI instrument's parameters.

admin

#18
Quote from: mooncaine on May 06, 2019, 12:56:09 PM
Maybe YGG will have the good sense to put their talents to work on a product like the Virtual Jeff, but one that's generally useful to lots of players.
The VJ is designed only to work with a Whammy pedal right now. I've hacked its MIDI stream a bit to get it almost perfect for a VG-99, but it ain't perfect. I was hoping to get some help from the inventor, but he stopped responding; no idea why.

If it had a CV output jack and a built-in MIDI events processor, like the one inside the MIDISolutions Events Processor Plus, then it could be useful for LOTS of devices instead of for merely a single device made by a now-defunct company.
Put the Whammy pedal on the guitar, with a MIDI out and CV out, basically, so it can drive any MIDI instrument's parameters.

ironically 99% of the concept of the Virtual Jeff Tremolo bar to control a Digitech Whammy pedal was proposed in 2009 in this Harmony Central post

https://www.harmonycentral.com/forum/forum/guitar/acapella-41/1152570-



QuoteI'd imagine that putting a potentiometer on a spring loaded trem arm and then wiring it up so that it controls a whammy pedal is about as close as you could get. If the guts of the pedal and a battery can fit inside the guitar even better.

The best was the Ibanez IMG-2010 with Assignable Parameter Control Arm


https://www.joness.com/gr300/img2010.htm


Virtual Whammy Bar Audio Demo
Audio Demonstration of the IMG-2010 used with the Roland VG-88. The virtual whammy bar is mapped to pitch bend on the VG-88. There is no real whammy bar, and the pitch of the strings is changed electronically in the VG-88:
https://www.joness.com/gr300/img2010.htm#