Long-Established Audio Brand Onkyo to Restart with New Products

Tokyo, Aug. 3 (Jiji Press)--A unit of major U.S. audio equipment maker VOXX International Corp., which has taken over the Japanese audio brand Onkyo, said Wednesday it will release three new audio and visual amplifiers under the brand in Japan by year-end. The launches of the new products equipped with sound correction and other cutting-edge technologies will mark the restart of the long-established Onkyo brand. Last year, Onkyo Home Entertainment Corp. sold the audio brand and other mainstay businesses to firms including VOXX due to financial difficulties. At an event to unveil the new products, Hiroshi Ueyama, director in charge of businesses in Japan at the VOXX subsidiary, Premium Audio Company LLC, said, "We evolved Onkyo's DNA, which has been living on non-stop." The audio and visual equipment market has been faltering, with more and more people listening to music on their smartphones. On the other hand, demand for watching movies and playing games with powerful sounds has been increasing as the COVID-19 pandemic forced people to spend more time at home. The event was also attended by Japanese actress Yoko Minamino, who appeared in a commercial for the Onkyo brand in the 1980s. END