# Kenwood Corporation

Kenwood (ケンウッド, Ken'uddo) is a Japanese brand for consumer electronics. Since October 2008, Kenwood has been owned by JVCKenwood as a result of a merger between Kenwood Corporation and JVC. Kenwood has manufactured electronic equipment such as AM/FM stereo receivers, cassette tape decks/recorders, amateur radio (ham radio) equipment, radios, televisions, cellular phones, speakers and other consumer electronics.

## History

Kenwood was established in 1946 as the Kasuga Radio Co. Ltd. in Komagane, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. In 1960, the company was renamed to Trio Corporation. In 1963, the first overseas office was founded in Los Angeles County, California, United States.
In the early 1960s, Trio's products were rebranded by the Lafayette Radio Company, which focused on citizens band radio.
A&A Trading Co. imported Japanese-made electronics for RadioShack. William "Bill" Kasuga, a bilingual Japanese-speaking manager from A&A, partnered with George Aratani and Yoichi Nakase to establish a company as the exclusive importer of Trio products.
The name Kenwood was invented by Kasuga as a combination of "Ken" (a name common to Japan and North America that was considered acceptable to American consumers due to the Kenmore appliance brand), and "Wood" (referring to the material, as well as suggesting a relation to Hollywood, California). The brand recognition of Kenwood eventually surpassed that of Trio. In 1986, Trio bought Kenwood and renamed itself to Kenwood. George Aratani was the first chairman of Kenwood USA Corporation, and was later succeeded by Kasuga. In October 2008, Kenwood merged with JVC to form a new holding company, JVCKenwood.
Kenwood introduced its Sovereign line of components in 2001. In 2007, Kenwood discontinued its line of consumer audio receivers, home theatre systems and other home electronics.
Today, Kenwood products include home audio, car audio aftermarket and OEM, in-car entertainment, amateur radio, professional two-way radio and DECT wireless intercom sectors.

## Products
### Speakers

Kenwood produces a variety of audio speakers at different grades, ranging from stage sound to high fidelity. The company introduced the first car stereo speaker to utilize a honeycombed linear plane diaphragm.

### Amateur radio transceivers

Kenwood has offered lines of HF, VHF/UHF, and portable amateur radio models, including some with built-in digital data modes (Automatic Packet Reporting System, built on AX.25 packet radio) and modems needed to send and receive these protocols.

### KA Series hi-fi systems

Kenwood launched a series of "Integrated Amplifier" stereo power amplifiers in 1977 and continued their production through the mid-1980s. The design for most of these products featured a true dual-mono path for stereo output (where no electrical components are shared between left- and right-channel amplification). Front plates were typically made in brushed aluminium with aluminium knobs and switches, glass covers, and in some cases analog VU meters.
Amplifiers in this series included (in no particular order):
* KA-1000 (11/1980)
* TRIO Supreme 1
* KA-2000
* KA-2002 (09/1970)
* KA-2200 (10/1982)
* KA-3100
* KA-6100 (1977)
* KA-7002 (1971)
* KA-7100 (10/1976)
* KA-7300 (10/1975)
* KA-8100 / KA-8150 (06/1977)
* KA-8300 (with analog meters vs. 8100)
* KA-9100
* KA-900 (11/1980)
* KA-907 / KA-9900 (10/1978)
* KA-9100 / KA-9150 (1977)
* KA-6100 / (1978/9)

### NV-Series Compact HiFi Systems

These were a series of compact high fidelity stereo systems launched in 2000, featuring a new design aesthetic.

#### NV-301/701

The NV-301 and NV-701 both featured a three-layered half-mirrored design. The NV-301 was the basic model with two speakers and a line input (marked for MiniDisc and DVD players) while the NV-701 was a 5.1 Dolby surround sound model with A/V inputs. Both models included a three-disc carousel, a cassette player with Dolby B noise reduction, a display, intelligent features, and the ability to save up to 40 radio stations, and used microcomputers to reduce the size of the unit.

### Communications equipment

Kenwood has produced two-way radios for a variety of communications standards, including wireless DECT intercom systems, the radio frequency PMR446 and its digital counterpart dPMR446, dPMR, the Project 25 standards suite, DMR and NXDN. Their communications product range includes hand-portable and mobile terminals (including Intrinsically Safe, ATEX- and IECEx-certified hand-portable radios), repeaters, infrastructure and application solutions.
* 1949: High-frequency transformer passes the NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) approval certificate for the first time in Japan.
* 1955: Establishes in Tokyo and begins mass production of audio, communications and measuring equipment.
* 1958: Company's first amateur radio goes on sale.
* 1960: Renamed Trio Electronics, Inc.
* 1962: Launches the industry's first transistor amplifier.
* 1963: Sets up in the U.S., and begins full-scale overseas operations.
* 1966: Introduces fully transistorised audio products for the first time in the industry.
* 1969: The Trio Electronics (in 1996 renamed to Kenwood) TR-7100, 144 MHz amateur radio car transceiver goes on sale.
* 1978: Introduces its first professional analogue two-way radios.
* 1979: Establishes the company's first overseas production unit in Singapore.
* 1983: Enters the U.S. land mobile radio market
* 1986: Renamed Kenwood (formerly named Trio Electronics, Inc.).
* 1991: Enters the European licensed PMR (Private Mobile Radio) market. Begins selling license-free transceivers. Signs an official supply contract with McLaren to provide wireless radio equipment for the F1 championship.
* 1995: The Mir space station carries Kenwood's amateur wireless equipment. TK-250 launched— Kenwood's first purpose designed PMR range for Europe.
* 1996: Changes the subsidiary name from Trio-Kenwood to Kenwood, coinciding with the company's 50th anniversary.
* 1997: Becomes Japan's first manufacturer to launch car-mounted DAB receivers.
* 1999: Jointly develops the world's first mobile digital broadcast receiving system. Introduces Pro-Talk PMR446 license free two-way radio.
* 2001: Kenwood releases its first digital transceiver operating on P25.
* 2002: Develops a network interface module (NIM) for digital broadcasts via a communications satellite (CS).
* 2005: Forms a technical and capital alliance with Icom to jointly research the standardisation of technical specifications for digital wireless radio equipment (NXDN). Kenwood Nagano Corp. acquires certification to “ISO/TS 16949”, the international standard for quality management specific to the automotive industry.
* 2007: Kenwood announces 144/430 (440) MHz FM Dual bander TM-V71 series. 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.
* 2008: Notice of establishment of JVC Kenwood Holdings Inc.
* 2010: Introduces its first ATEX certified analogue two-way radio.
* 2011: Introduces NEXEDGE OTAP (Over The Air Programming) 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.
* 2013: Kenwood announces launch of the TS-990S amateur radio base station. Global launch of NEXEDGE ETSI certified dPMR digital two-way radios.
* 2014: Acquires E.F. Johnson Technologies Inc.
* 2015: Launch of NX-5000 Series multi-protocol (NXDN/DMR/P25) capable hand-portable and mobile radios.
* 2016: Launches TH-D74E VHF/UHF dual-band handheld amateur radio with built-in GPS.
* 2016: Launches ProTalk WD-K10 Series DECT (Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications) Intercom systems.
* 2017: Launch of mid-tier NX-3000 Series multi-protocol (NXDN/DMR) capable hand-portable and mobile radios.
* 2017: Radio Activity S.r.l., a developer of digital multi-frequency, simulcast and trunked radio relay systems compliant with Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) standards.
* 2018: Launch of high-specification, dual PTT ProTalk TK-3601D hand-portable dPMR 446 radio.
* 2018: JVCKENWOOD acquires a minority share and announces a capital and business alliance with Tait International Ltd., a specialist in critical LMR and LTE communications.
* 2018: Dorna Sports announce a three-year contract with JVCKENWOOD as the as radio communications sponsor of MotoGP™.
* 2019: Implementation of the world's first, scalable Single site, 64-Channel, NXDN trunked communications system at the new Istanbul Airport, planned to become the world's largest on completion of its development phases in 2025.
* 2019: Launch of heavy-duty, dual PTT ProTalk TK-3701D hand-portable digital dPMR 446 radio.
* 2019: Launch of low-tier, FM analogue plus digital DMR/NXDN capable NX-1000 Series radios.
* 2022: JVCKENWOOD moves from the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange to the Prime Market due to a revision of the Tokyo Stock Exchange's market classification.

## Note

* ↑ The original company was absorbed into JVCKenwood, although some products made by the company still use the Kenwood brand.