Harman On A Roll IN OZ Share Goes From 6% TO 30%
18 months ago, Harman took control of their brands AKG, JBL and Harman Kardon in Australia, at the time the big US sound Company that is now owned by Samsung had 6% market share.
Today after a significant in country investment Harman has grown their share to over 30% and are now locked in a battle to further grow share, as brands such as Apple, Amazon with their Echo speakers and Google who they are ironically partnering with in the launch a new range of JBL and Harman Kardon voice activated speakers and headphones.
Up until now the battle in the portable speaker market has been up against the likes of Ultimate Ears a Logitech owned brand and Sony along with a more than 20 other sound brands that are ranged at JB Hi Fi or Harvey Norman.
According to Michael Sherman Category Manager at Harman the Companies new range is set to give the Samsung owned Company an Edge in particular the Companies new Harman Kardon Citation range which consists of eight components.
The entire system includes four tabletop or shelf speakers, one sound bar, a subwoofer, and two floor standing towers. They all have Google Assistant built in.
According to Sherman Harman Australia are looking to be a major player in the Virtual Assistant sound market. They are also looking to lift the ASP across their range.
“We have a great range of premium products built by a Company that has years of audio heritage. What we are delivering are premium products which retailers will benefit from running into the peak Christmas period and in the new year when we launch our new range of Harman Kardon Citation speakers”.
Several audio reviewers who have seen and heard the new Harman Kardon Citation speaker range have said that the quality is excellent and superior to what Sonos is capable of delivering.
Harman who are also known for their automotive and marine expertise have recently appointed Melbourne based Directed to handle their auto and marine sound and systems business.
According to Sherman this is a growth category which is “huge” in several markets around the world.
Other JBL gear includes the true wireless earphones the JBL Endurance PEAK. These earbuds are designed for working out with water-resistance, tech called TwistLock and FlexSoft designed to ensure they never fall out, and PowerHook, which will turn them off automatically when you take them out of your ears. With a four-hour battery in the headphones and 24 more hours in the carrying case, you’ll go a long time without ever needing to plug in.
JBL’s Link Bar is a new sound bar with Android TV, Chromecast, and Google Assistant.
Set to go on sale at JB Hi Fi before Xmas is the JBL Link View which is very similar to the new Lenovo View product.
It includes an eight-inch touchscreen, 5MP front-facing camera, and all the Google voice technology built right in. According to Sherman this product will be “competitively priced”.
AKG has four new wireless headphones coming out. The N700NC over-ear headphones will be the flagship pair with adaptive noise-cancelling, tech for taking calls on the go, a 23-hour battery life, and more. The N200, Y500, and Y100 headphones will also feature exceptional sound with Bluetooth Apt-x technology, magnetic ear buds that snap together for easy management, and auto-play features that can detect when you’re wearing the headphones or not.
