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Akai
Akai (Japanese: 赤井, pronounced [a̠ka̠i]) was a Japanese electronics manufacturer, established as Akai Electric Company Ltd in Tokyo in 1929. It was best known outside Japan for its tape recorders during the 1960s and 1970s. The company became bankrupt in 2000 and since then third-party products have been marketed under the Akai brand name, which has since been owned by Grande Holdings of Hong Kong.
In its earlier history, Akai had made many innovations in the development of magnetic tape-based audio technology. Around 1980, the music division Akai Professional was founded, offering production and stage equipment for modern music. After the controversial collapse of the business in 2000, the Akai brand came under the ownership of Hong Kong based Grande Holdings. The company now distributes a range of electronic products, including LED TVs, washing machines, clothes dryers, air conditioners, and smartphones. These products are developed through collaborations with other electronics companies with relevant expertise. The Akai Professional electronic instrument division had already been spun off in 1999 and operated under separate ownership; this unit is now owned and operated by inMusic Brands.
Akai was founded by Masukichi Akai and his son, Saburo Akai (who died in 1973), as Akai Electric Company Ltd. (赤井電機株式会社, Akai Denki Kabushiki Gaisha), a Japanese manufacturer, in 1929. Some sources, however, suggest the company was established in 1946.
The company's business eventually became disorganized, and it exited the audio industry in 1991. At its peak in the late 1990s, Akai Holdings employed 100,000 workers and had annual sales of HK$40 billion (US$5.2 billion). The company filed for insolvency in November 2000, owing creditors US$1.1 billion. It emerged that ownership of Akai Holdings had passed to Grande Holdings in 1999, a company founded by Akai's chairman James Ting. The liquidators claimed that Ting had stolen over US$800 million from the company with the assistance of accountants Ernst & Young, who had tampered with audit documents dating back to 1994. Ting was imprisoned for false accounting in 2005, and E&Y paid $200 million to settle the negligence case out of court in September 2009. In a separate lawsuit, a former E&Y partner, Christopher Ho, made a "substantial payment" to Akai creditors in his role as chairman of Grande Holdings.
The "Akai Professional" division, specializing in electronic instruments, became a separate business in 1999. It was acquired in 2005 by businessman Jack O'Donnell (later becoming a part of his inMusic Brands group) and is no longer associated with the main "Akai" brand.
Akai's products included reel-to-reel audiotape recorders (such as the GX series), tuners (top-level AT, mid-level TR and TT series), audio cassette decks (top-level GX and TFL, mid-level TC, HX, and CS series), amplifiers (AM and TA series), microphones, receivers, turntables, video recorders, and loudspeakers.
Many Akai products were sold under the name Roberts in the U.S.,[citation needed] as well as A&D in Japan (from 1987, following a partnership with Mitsubishi Electric), Tensai, and Transonic Strato in Western Europe.[citation needed] During the late 1960s, Akai adopted Tandberg's cross-field recording technologies (using an extra tape head) to enhance high-frequency recording and later switched to the increasingly reliable Glass and Crystal (X'tal) (GX) ferrite heads.[citation needed] The company's most popular products[citation needed] included the GX-630D, GX-635D, GX-747/GX-747DBX, and GX-77 open-reel recorders (the latter featuring an auto-loading function), the three-head, closed-loop GX-F95, GX-90, GX-F91, GX-R99 cassette decks, and the AM-U61, AM-U7, and AM-93 stereo amplifiers.
Akai manufactured and badged most of its imported hi-fi products under the Tensai brand (named after the Swiss audio and electronics distributor Tensai International[citation needed]). Tensai International served as Akai's exclusive distributor for the Swiss and Western European markets until 1988.
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Akai
Akai (Japanese: 赤井, pronounced [a̠ka̠i]) was a Japanese electronics manufacturer, established as Akai Electric Company Ltd in Tokyo in 1929. It was best known outside Japan for its tape recorders during the 1960s and 1970s. The company became bankrupt in 2000 and since then third-party products have been marketed under the Akai brand name, which has since been owned by Grande Holdings of Hong Kong.
In its earlier history, Akai had made many innovations in the development of magnetic tape-based audio technology. Around 1980, the music division Akai Professional was founded, offering production and stage equipment for modern music. After the controversial collapse of the business in 2000, the Akai brand came under the ownership of Hong Kong based Grande Holdings. The company now distributes a range of electronic products, including LED TVs, washing machines, clothes dryers, air conditioners, and smartphones. These products are developed through collaborations with other electronics companies with relevant expertise. The Akai Professional electronic instrument division had already been spun off in 1999 and operated under separate ownership; this unit is now owned and operated by inMusic Brands.
Akai was founded by Masukichi Akai and his son, Saburo Akai (who died in 1973), as Akai Electric Company Ltd. (赤井電機株式会社, Akai Denki Kabushiki Gaisha), a Japanese manufacturer, in 1929. Some sources, however, suggest the company was established in 1946.
The company's business eventually became disorganized, and it exited the audio industry in 1991. At its peak in the late 1990s, Akai Holdings employed 100,000 workers and had annual sales of HK$40 billion (US$5.2 billion). The company filed for insolvency in November 2000, owing creditors US$1.1 billion. It emerged that ownership of Akai Holdings had passed to Grande Holdings in 1999, a company founded by Akai's chairman James Ting. The liquidators claimed that Ting had stolen over US$800 million from the company with the assistance of accountants Ernst & Young, who had tampered with audit documents dating back to 1994. Ting was imprisoned for false accounting in 2005, and E&Y paid $200 million to settle the negligence case out of court in September 2009. In a separate lawsuit, a former E&Y partner, Christopher Ho, made a "substantial payment" to Akai creditors in his role as chairman of Grande Holdings.
The "Akai Professional" division, specializing in electronic instruments, became a separate business in 1999. It was acquired in 2005 by businessman Jack O'Donnell (later becoming a part of his inMusic Brands group) and is no longer associated with the main "Akai" brand.
Akai's products included reel-to-reel audiotape recorders (such as the GX series), tuners (top-level AT, mid-level TR and TT series), audio cassette decks (top-level GX and TFL, mid-level TC, HX, and CS series), amplifiers (AM and TA series), microphones, receivers, turntables, video recorders, and loudspeakers.
Many Akai products were sold under the name Roberts in the U.S.,[citation needed] as well as A&D in Japan (from 1987, following a partnership with Mitsubishi Electric), Tensai, and Transonic Strato in Western Europe.[citation needed] During the late 1960s, Akai adopted Tandberg's cross-field recording technologies (using an extra tape head) to enhance high-frequency recording and later switched to the increasingly reliable Glass and Crystal (X'tal) (GX) ferrite heads.[citation needed] The company's most popular products[citation needed] included the GX-630D, GX-635D, GX-747/GX-747DBX, and GX-77 open-reel recorders (the latter featuring an auto-loading function), the three-head, closed-loop GX-F95, GX-90, GX-F91, GX-R99 cassette decks, and the AM-U61, AM-U7, and AM-93 stereo amplifiers.
Akai manufactured and badged most of its imported hi-fi products under the Tensai brand (named after the Swiss audio and electronics distributor Tensai International[citation needed]). Tensai International served as Akai's exclusive distributor for the Swiss and Western European markets until 1988.