Harman Kardon 2010 Annual Report Download - page 27

We produce sound mixing consoles ranging from digital consoles for broadcast studios to compact
professional mixers for personal recording, home studios and sound reinforcement. Our consoles are sold to four
main market areas: sound reinforcement, recording studios, broadcast studios and musical instrument dealers.
Our mixing consoles are sold primarily under the Soundcraft and Studer brands. We produce many types of
signal processing products, equalizers, and special effects devices that are used in live sound applications and in
recording studios to produce sound effects and refine final mixes. These products are sold under the Lexicon,
DigiTech and dbx brand names.
We produce microphones, audio headphones, surround-sound headphones and other professional audio
products, which are marketed under the AKG brand name.
We also produce professional amplifiers and powered loudspeakers under the Crown and JBL brand names.
We believe the integration of loudspeakers and electronics enhances our ability to provide complete systems
solutions to the professional audio market. Our other professional products include switching systems, digital audio
workstations and turnkey broadcasting studio installations marketed primarily under the Studer brand name.
With our HiQnet network protocol we can configure, connect and control a complete professional sound
system from microphone to speaker on one unified digital network. This system provides enhanced productivity
and facilitates real-time problem diagnosis and correction from a central location.
We design high-end electronics, including amplifiers, digital signal processors, multi format digital media
players and transports and surround sound processors that we market under the renowned Mark Levinson brand.
We believe that we are a leader in the design and manufacture of high-quality home theater surround sound
processors and amplifiers under the Lexicon name. Lexicon was a pioneer in the development of digital signal
processors for the professional audio market. We believe that we have successfully leveraged Lexicon’s
professional audio expertise to produce premier products.
Manufacturing
We believe that our manufacturing capabilities are essential to maintaining and improving product quality
and performance. Our manufacturing facilities are located in North America, Europe and Asia.
Our Automotive division manufacturing facilities in Europe are located in Germany, the United Kingdom,
France and Hungary. Our European facilities are primarily used to manufacture audio, infotainment systems and
automotive navigation systems. In North America, we manufacture audio components in Kentucky and Mexico
and manufacture electronics in Kentucky and Missouri. In addition, we are producing electronics and audio
components at our facility in Suzhou, China.
Our Consumer division primarily uses original design manufacturers and outsources the manufacture of its
products to generate cost efficiencies, deliver products faster, and better serve our customers.
In North America, our principal Professional division manufacturing facilities are located in Mexico and
California for loudspeakers, and in Utah and Indiana for electronic products, including amplifiers and effects
devices. Our Professional division electronics manufacturing in Europe includes mixing consoles in the United
Kingdom and microphones and headphones in Austria. Our Professional division electronics manufacturing in
Brazil includes electronic loudspeakers, amplifiers and other components.
Our facilities have been designed to emphasize worker safety and compliance with environmental, health
and safety regulations.
Suppliers
We use externally sourced microchips in many of our products. A significant disruption in our microchip
supply chain and an inability to obtain alternative sources would have a material impact on our consolidated
results of operations.
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