BREAKING NEWS: Samsung Owned Subsidiary Harman Acquires UK Sound Brand

Advance Audio Australia is facing the possibility of losing the ARCAM brand following the acquisition of the UK Hi Fi brand by the Samsung owned Harman International.

In Australia Harman, International consumers products are distributed by a local Harman subsidiary while their top end Harman range is still distributed by Convoy who also do the reverse logistics for Ingram Micro and Harman.

The offical Harman International Press Release said ‘Founded by two Cambridge University students in 1976, Arcam develops high performance digital audio products for music and movie lovers around the globe. With approximately 35 employees in Cambridge, UK, Arcam has an extensive product portfolio, including AVRs, Amplifiers, DACs, Speakers, and Lifestyle Music and Movie technologies.

“HARMAN’s mission is clear – to elevate experiences wherever people are, at work, at home, in the car or on the go. With a strong audio heritage, we relentlessly pursue innovations that will enable us to deliver the best solutions for our customers and consumers,” said Chris Dragon,Senior Director of Marketing, Lifestyle Audio. “We have found in Arcam a likeminded passion for bringing the highest quality sound into people’s lives. With impressive technologies and outstanding talent, Arcam will be an exceptional addition to HARMAN’s luxury audio team. As demand for higher quality audio rapidly accelerates, we are eager to seize the many opportunities in front of us.”

“We are proud of what we have accomplished with Arcam over the last 10 years, expanding the company from its UK roots to become a globally-recognized Hi-Fi brand,” said Martin Szpiro, President and CEO of Jam Industries. “Now with HARMAN, a world leader in professional, lifestyle and automotive audio and sound management, Arcam will join the best in the business to grow its engineering capabilities and extend its product reach into new markets.”

Charlie Brennan, Managing Director, Arcam, and the current management team will remain in Cambridge and become part of the HARMAN Lifestyle Audio division. “We are extremely grateful to Jam Industries for their loyal support over the last decade and believe that we will be able develop even better products for music lovers who demand great sound as part of HARMAN.”

Scott Campbell, ARCAM Director of Sales & Marketing said in a press release issued to dealers and ChannelNews said “We share a likeminded passion for bringing the highest quality sound into people’s lives and we believe bringing the power of the two companies together will benefit the partnership we have with you” referring to their current resellers.

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He said that at this state it will be business as normal and that the Arcam management team will continue to represent the Arcam brand.

Søren Majlund, Commercial Director EUN, Harman Lifestyle Audio Division said:We expect the combination will deliver growth opportunities and benefits to our customers. We believe this is an unprecedented opportunity to grow Arcam’s engineering capabilities and extend its product reach into new markets”.

ChannelNews has been told that at the recent Munich show two Australia specialist sound distributors approached Arcam with a view to securing the rights to the Companies product that are currently distributed by Advance Audio Australia.

Arcam who is also known as A&R Cambridge is a UK manufacturer based in Cambridgeshire, England. It was formally established in 1976 by science and engineering students from the University of Cambridge.

A&R Cambridge’s first product was the A&R Cambridge A60 integrated amplifier, released in 1976. It soon became a classic product, admired for both restrained, sleek appearance and its high-end sound performance.

These days Arcam products range from integrated stereo amplifiers through to high performance AV processors, Blu-ray players and a successful range of smaller lifestyle products.

In the 1980s, the formal company name of A&R Cambridge Ltd was shortened on the products themselves to “ARCAM”, although the company’s trading name remained A&R Cambridge Ltd.

Arcam will now sit alongside several other Harman International brands that include AKG, Harman Kardon, Infinity, JBL, Mark Levinson and Revel.