JVC 2008 Annual Report Download - page 23

1946 Established Kasuga Radio Co., Ltd. (predecessor of Kenwood
Corporation)
1947 Succeeded in manufacturing high-performance radio parts
(high-frequency coils)
1949 High-frequency coil passed the NHK (Japan Broadcasting
Corporation) approval certificate for the first time in Japan
1950 Renamed to Kasuga Radio Industry Corporation
1957 Began exporting FM tuners for the first time as a Japanese
manufacturer [Photo 1]
1960 Renamed to Trio Electronics, Inc.
1962 Launched the industry’s first transistor amplifier
1963 Set up sales firm in the U.S. and began full-scale overseas
operations
1966 Fully transistorized audio products for the first time in the
industry
1978 Entered the commercial wireless radio equipment field in
Japan
1979 Set up Company’s first overseas production firm in Singapore
1980 Entered the car audio field in the U.S. [Photo 2]
1981 Decided on “KENWOOD” as the corporate brand
1982 Entered the portable audio field, introducing portable FM
radio
1983 Entered the Business & Industry sector of commercial
wireless radio field in the U.S. [Photo 3]
1986 Renamed to Kenwood Corporation
1991 Developed the radio systems for F1 world championship
race and began an official supplier contract with the Team
McLaren
1992 Entered the car navigation system field, launching the
industry’s first 1DIN-size GPS car navigation system [Photo 4]
1997 Supplied Real Focus Sound System for Forester and 2nd Legacy
of Subaru, establishing the base for the OEM business
2001 Issued new shares worth a total of 7.1 billion yen through a
third-party allocation
2002 Booked negative net worth in the fiscal year ended March
2002, and announced the “Kenwood Revitalization Plan”
Announced the “Revitalization Action Plan”
Issued new shares worth a total of 2.0 billion yen through a
third-party allocation
Eliminated negative net worth through a debt-for-equity
swap amounting to 25.0 billion yen
2003 Accomplished a V-shaped recovery in earnings and posted
a record consolidated net income in the fiscal year ended
March 2003
2004 Acquired the wireless radio operations of Toyo
Communication Equipment Co., Ltd.
Completed the “New Financial Strategy”, and entirely
eliminated cumulative loss, redeemed the first tranche
class-A preferred stocks, terminated financial agreements,
and substantially reduced interest-bearing debts
2005 Formed a technical and capital alliance with Icom Inc. to
jointly research the standardization of technical specifications
for digital wireless radio equipment
Resumed dividend payments for the first time in six years
Redeemed the first tranche class-B preferred stock, thereby
completely redeeming all preferred stocks that were issued
in association with a debt-for-equity swap
2007 Entered into a tie-up with a company of the group headed
by the leading European aerospace and defensed corporation
EADS, to mutually supply Digital Land Mobile Radio equipment
Launched the voluntary organization jointly in Europe in
order to establish standards for commercial digital wireless
radio equipment
Converted Zetron, Inc., a U.S. systems-based communication
company into a subsidiary
Formed a management integration Capital alliance with
Victor Company of Japan, Limited
Completed payment and stock acquisition for third party
allotment of new shares by JVC
Established J&K Technologies Corp., a joint venture company for
technological development, through a 50-50 investment with JVC
Developed Digital Land Mobile Radio equipment and
launched them in North America [Photo 5]
Formed a new aftermarket collaboration agreement for AV-
integrated navigation systems for the consumer aftermarket
with Garmin, the largest PND maker in U.S.
2008 Agreed on a Management Integration through the
Establishment of a Joint Holding Company with Victor
Company of Japan, Limited
Launched a voluntary organization jointly to contribute to
the development of land mobile radio in the Americas
[1] FM tuners [2] Car audio systems
launched in the U.S.
[3] Land mobile radio
launched in the U.S.
[4] GPS car navigation system [5] Digital Land Mobile Radio
Kenwood
Annual Report 2008 21