Harman Kardon 2009 Annual Report Download - page 30

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and to continue to emphasize our ability to provide system solutions to customers, including a combination of
loudspeakers, electronics products, integrated surround sound and home theater systems. Our principal electronic
competitors include Yamaha, Sony, Denon, Onkyo, Pioneer and Marantz. We also compete in the luxury
consumer electronics market with our Mark Levinson and Lexicon brands. Our principal competitors in this
high-end market include Krell, McIntosh, Audio Research, Meridian, Linn and Classe.
In the multimedia market, we supply Apple stores and other retailers with JBL and Harman/Kardon speaker
systems that serve Apple’s iPod and iPhone as well as other MP3 players. Our principal competitors for these
products are Bose, Altec Lansing and Klipsch. We also offer Harman/Kardon and JBL speaker systems to
personal computer retailers. In this market, our principal competitors are Creative Labs, Altec Lansing, Logitech,
Klipsch and Cyber Acoustics. Additionally, Harman/Kardon audio technology is built into certain Toshiba laptop
computers. The Harman/Kardon Drive + Play 2 mobile product provides full MP3 control and interface for
Apple’s iPod and iPhone and includes a highly visible display. Our principal competitor in the MP3 mobile
accessory market is Alpine.
The market for professional sound systems is highly competitive. We believe that we have historically held
a leading market position in the professional loudspeaker market and have complemented our professional
loudspeaker line by adding digital professional electronic products and broadcast and recording equipment. We
compete by utilizing our ability to provide systems solutions to meet the complete audio requirements of our
professional customers. With our HiQnet networking protocol software, our professional brand products can
communicate and operate together. We offer products for most professional audio applications.
We compete in the sound reinforcement market using many of our brand names, including JBL
Professional, AKG, Crown, Soundcraft, BSS and dbx. Our principal competitors in the sound reinforcement
market include Telex, Electro Voice, Mackie, QSC, Meyer Sound Laboratories, Sennheiser, Peavey, Shure,
Audio Technica, and Yamaha. Our Studer, AKG, Soundcraft, JBL Professional and Lexicon branded products
compete in the recording and broadcast markets. Principal competitors in these markets include Yamaha,
Sennheiser, Loud Technologies, Inc., Lawo, Harris Corporation, DigiDesign/M-Audio, Genelec, KRK, TC
Electronics, Stagetec and Sony. In the music instrument market, competitors for our JBL Professional, DigiTech,
dbx, Crown, Soundcraft and AKG products include Yamaha, Peavey, QSC, Shure, Sennheiser, Line 6, Dunlop,
Zoom, Audio Technica and Roland. We also compete in the industrial and architectural sound market.
Competitors within this market include Siemens, Peavey and Tannoy.
Environmental Regulation
We are subject to various Federal, state, local and international environmental laws and regulations,
including those governing the use, discharge and disposal of hazardous materials and, increasingly, the recycling
of our products and of their packaging.
In Europe, we are subject to the European Union’s (“EU”) Directive on the Restriction of Use of Certain
Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronics Equipment (“RoHS”). This directive restricts the placement
into the EU market of electrical and electronic equipment containing certain hazardous materials, including lead,
mercury, cadmium and chromium. We are also subject to the EU’s Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment
Directive (“WEEE”), which regulates the collective, recovery and recycling of waste from certain electronic
products.
In China, we are subject to China’s law on Management Methods on the Control of Pollution Caused by
Electronic Information Products (“China RoHS”), which is substantially similar to the EU RoHS. The China
RoHS requires the disclosure and marking of certain substances, including lead, mercury, cadmium and
chromium in certain electronic products.
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