Kenwood Corporation


Kenwood Corporation is a Japanese company that designs, develops and markets a range of car audio, hi-fi home and personal audio, professional two-way radio communications equipment, and amateur radio equipment.

History

The company was established in 1946 as the Kasuga Radio Co. Ltd. in Komagane City, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. In 1960, the company was renamed Trio Corporation. In 1963, the first overseas office was founded in Los Angeles County, California, USA.
In the early 1960s, Trio's products were rebranded by the Lafayette Radio Company, with a focus on citizens' band radio.
An importer of Japanese-made electronics RadioShack was A&A Trading Co., and a bilingual Japanese-speaking manager from there, William "Bill" Kasuga partnered with George Aratani and Yoichi Nakase to establish a company that would be the exclusive importer of Trio products.
The name Kenwood was invented by Kasuga as being the combination of "Ken", a name common to Japan and North America that had been tested and proven acceptable to American consumers in the name of Kenmore appliances, and "Wood", referring to the durable substance as well as suggesting a relation to Hollywood, California. The brand recognition of Kenwood eventually surpassed that of Trio, and in 1986 Trio bought Kenwood and renamed itself Kenwood. George Aratani was the first chairman of Kenwood USA Corporation and succeeded by Kasuga. In October 2008, Kenwood merged with JVC to form new holding company, named as JVCKenwood.
Kenwood introduced its Sovereign line of components in 2001. In 2007, Kenwood discontinued its line of consumer audio receivers, home theater systems and other home electronics.
Today, products marketed by the company to consumer and commercial audiences fall within the home audio, car audio aftermarket and OEM, in car entertainment, amateur radio, professional two-way radio and DECT wireless intercom sectors.

Products

Amateur radio transceivers

Kenwood has offered lines of HF, VHF/UHF, and portable amateur radio models, including some with built-in digital data modes and modems needed to send and receive these protocols.

KA Series hi-fi systems

Kenwood's series of "Integrated Amplifier" stereo power amplifiers, launched in 1977 and produced through the mid-1980s. The design for most of these items features a true dual-mono path for stereo output. Front plates were typically made in brushed aluminum with aluminum knobs and switches, glass covers, and in some cases analog VU meters.
Amplifiers in this series included
These were a series of mini hi-fi systems launched in 2000, featuring a new design aesthetic.
;NV-301/701
The NV-301 and NV-701 both shared a three-layered half-mirrored design with the main difference lying in the specification of the two systems. The NV-301 was the basic model with two speakers and with a phono input while the NV-701 was a 5.1 Dolby surround sound model with A/V inputs. Both featured a three-disc carousel, a cassette player with Dolby B noise reduction, a natural display, intelligent features and the ability to save up to 40 radio stations, utilising microcomputers to reduce the size of the unit.

Communications equipment

Kenwood is a brand of JVCKENWOOD Corporation making two-way radios including wireless DECT intercom systems, PMR446, dPMR446, dPMR, P25, DMR and NXDN. The Kenwood communications product range includes hand-portable and mobile terminals, repeaters, infrastructure and application solutions.
Begins selling license-free transceivers.
Signs an official supply contract with McLaren to provide wireless radio equipment for the F1 championship.
TK-250 launched — Kenwood's first purpose designed PMR range for Europe.
Introduces Pro-Talk PMR446 license free two-way radio.
Kenwood Nagano Corp. acquires certification to “ISO/TS 16949”, the international standard for quality management specific to the automotive industry.
Announcement of completion of acquisition of the U.S. systems-based communication company Zetron, Inc.
Invested ¥20.0 billion and formed a strategic business alliance with Victor Company of Japan, Limited.
At the same time, JVC KENWOOD Holdings, Inc. changed its name to JVCKENWOOD Corporation. JVCKENWOOD Corporation completed an absorption of its three subsidiaries, Victor Company of Japan, Limited, Kenwood Corporation, and J&K Car Electronics Corporation.
Global launch of NEXEDGE ETSI certified dPMR digital two-way radios.