Samsung to Buy Harman International

slipperybidness

slipperybidness

Audioholic Warlord
Samsung to Buy Harman International

I think I am going to be sick. 2016 is turning out to be a hell of a year. This might not be all bad though, it could mean Samsung is looking into hi-fi? They already picked up Allan Devantier earlier from Harman.
The article that I read on engadget has a little more insight on this, from the tech point of view.

HK is a huge player in the car audio and infotainment market. Samsung wants a bigger piece of that pie, so that was likely the driving factor here.

Sammy also just announced that they are spending another $1B on upgrades for their Austin, TX fab plant.

The last couple of years has seen quite a bit of consolidation in the semiconductor industry. Intel and Dell have made large acquisitions. NXP bought Freescale, and now Qualcomm is about to buy NXP. So, Qualcomm is going to be the biggest player in the market for car automation and infotainment, and microcontrollers. I'm sure Sammy sees this as their best opportunity to try to compete in the automotive sector.
 
cel4145

cel4145

Audioholic
Samsung to Buy Harman International

I think I am going to be sick. 2016 is turning out to be a hell of a year. This might not be all bad though, it could mean Samsung is looking into hi-fi? They already picked up Allan Devantier earlier from Harman.
I wonder if they aren't looking ahead to smart homes. They are already a leader in home video. What they lacked was home audio.

And then, it doesn't hurt that they picked up AKG and other headphone models to counter Apple's acquisition of Beats.
 
BoredSysAdmin

BoredSysAdmin

Audioholic Slumlord
One of the reasons (not the main one) I went with Subaru was their use of HK systems in premium audio offerings vs (unfortunately) more common Bose. But that's just speakers/amp. Subaru infotainment system is not that great at all. Like most car manufactures (well, except of Audi and Telsa) Subaru's system is largely based on 10 year old tech.
 
panteragstk

panteragstk

Audioholic Warlord
So will Harmon products get better or will Samsung products get better or will Harmon products start exploding?
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
Since they want it to move into the car market, I hope they don't start exploding.
 
KEW

KEW

Audioholic Overlord
I wonder what they will do with the home audio and pro audio speakers being made by Harman.
JBL and Infinity both are pretty big names.
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
I wonder what they will do with the home audio and pro audio speakers being made by Harman.
JBL and Infinity both are pretty big names.
That's another outfit down the tubes. Samsung produce some of the worst junk around, especially home appliances. There top loading washing machines have been designed with insufficient integrity to contain the centrifugal forces and the drums explode with severe personal injury cases. 700 incidents and counting so far.

This is high school physics, or at least in my day it would have been in my day, to make a design that did not do this.

Just dreadful a lot of the stuff shoved down our throats from the Far East due to inept free trade agreements. Hopefully things will change.

Samsung are a major junk vendor and I fear Trump will take office too late to unwind this.

For us the worst thing is that the Harmon professional division own Studer, Rupert Neeve and Siemens and much else. Soon we won't have any decent professional gear. Junk, junk and junk through out the chain.

This deal should be stopped.
 
rojo

rojo

Audioholic Samurai
I dunno. Samsung does a pretty good job on televisions, don't they?
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
I dunno. Samsung does a pretty good job on televisions, don't they?
No. They have a high failure rate of screens and HDMI boards. Parts are almost always out of stock. As usual with Koreans parts are always a nightmare.

The service guys in the Twin Cities say, never buy an appliance with Samsung or LG on the name plate!
 
slipperybidness

slipperybidness

Audioholic Warlord
No. They have a high failure rate of screens and HDMI boards. Parts are almost always out of stock. As usual with Koreans parts are always a nightmare.

The service guys in the Twin Cities say, never buy an appliance with Samsung or LG on the name plate!
I've been happy with my 26" Sammy HDTV--I bought it used 10+ years ago for $600.

I've been happy with my 52" Sammy HDTV, had it almost 10 years of service now without a snag.

I've been happy with my Sammy Galaxy S6 Active--dropped it straight on the concrete 3 or 4 times without any issues.

Now, those front loading washing machines, that's a different story all together, I'm glad I don't have to deal with that. And, my sister had a Sammy Refrigerator that had an early death. So, I do agree that I would stay far away from any large appliances from Samsung or LG.

"Samsung, at least it's not Sony" :D
 
rojo

rojo

Audioholic Samurai
I've had a Samsung fridge since 2009 with no problems, although 7 years isn't much indication of the typical life of a fridge I guess. *shrug*

What's the brand of TV to get these days? Panasonic or Vizio?
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
I have quite a few Samsung products and have no issues with them either. No complaints. I looked at their washer and dryer though and decided they weren't all they were cracked up to be. Not sure I'd buy a fridge from them either.

Samsung is still the TV to get. After that, Vizio.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
For us the worst thing is that the Harmon professional division own Studer, Rupert Neeve and Siemens and much else
Siemens? How could a relatively small company like Harman own a giant like Siemens? Was there some audio division in the Siemens conglomeration that was sold off to Harman?
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
Is there a parent above Siemens? I don't recall ever hearing that. If there is, it isn't Harman.
 
mtrycrafts

mtrycrafts

Seriously, I have no life.
Can the car audio division be sold separately or the whole works were sold?
Reading my paper it said Harman Car Audio, nothing about Harman International being sold.
 
Irvrobinson

Irvrobinson

Audioholic Spartan
Can the car audio division be sold separately or the whole works were sold?
Reading my paper it said Harman Car Audio, nothing about Harman International being sold.
This transaction was for the entire company.
 
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