Guitar gurus Gibson form strategic partnership with audio wizards Onkyo
Here’s a fairly unexpected join announcement from home audio specialists Onkyo and guitar-manufacturing gods Gibson. The two companies are to enter into a “strategic partnership”, which will see Gibson acquire a majority share in Onkyo USA.
Onkyo will also make an investment back into Gibson, with both company’s CEO’s taking a seat on each other’s board.
“This partnership has significant positive implications for Onkyo as we are always seeking ways of creating new value,” said Onkyo CEO and president Munenori Otsuki.
“Gibson is a leading global company with a massive fan base, best-in-class products and superior marketing skills. Coming together in this way opens the door for amazing opportunities for both companies and, more importantly, fans of Onkyo and Gibson.”
“While people may be listening to more music, they are listening to it primarily in a severely compressed format” added Gibson chairman and CEO Henry Juszkiewicz.
“The aural disparity between a real system and compressed sound is vast, and as a result, they are simply not hearing tremendously rich sounds. With Onkyo, our goal is to bring the same exceptional experience artists demand in the studio to a larger consumer base.”
Though details concerning any joint hardware projects are slim on the ground, the press release does make reference to “inexpensive ear bud headsets”, stating that the newly formed team will be able to deliver deliver “a far superior audio experience to the consumer who has become more and more used to hearing only inferior compressed music”.
Anyone for high-end, Gibson-branded, Onkyo-built earphones?
