Harman International Industries, commonly known as Harman (stylized in all-uppercase as HARMAN), is an American

audio electronics Audio most commonly refers to sound, as it is transmitted in signal form. It may also refer to: Sound *Audio signal, an electrical representation of sound *Audio frequency, a frequency in the audio spectrum *Digital audio, representation of sound ...

company. Since 2017, the company has been an independent subsidiary of

Samsung Electronics Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (, sometimes shortened to SEC and stylized as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean multinational electronics corporation headquartered in Yeongtong-gu, Suwon, South Korea. It is the pinnacle of the Samsung chaebol, acc ...

. Headquartered in

Stamford, Connecticut Stamford () is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut, outside of Manhattan. It is Connecticut's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport. With a population of 135,470, Stamford passed Hartford and New Haven in population as of the 202 ...

, US, Harman maintains major operations in the Americas,

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

. Harman markets its products under various brands, including AKG, AMX, Arcam,

Bang & Olufsen Bang & Olufsen (B&O) is a Danish high-end consumer electronics company that designs and manufactures audio products, television sets, and telephones. It was founded in 1925 by Peter Bang and Svend Olufsen, who designed a radio to work with al ...

Automotive, Becker, BSS Audio,

Crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

, dbx, DOD Electronics, DigiTech, Harman Kardon,

Infinity Infinity is that which is boundless, endless, or larger than any natural number. It is often denoted by the infinity symbol . Since the time of the ancient Greeks, the philosophical nature of infinity was the subject of many discussions am ...

, JBL,

Lexicon A lexicon is the vocabulary of a language or branch of knowledge (such as nautical or medical). In linguistics, a lexicon is a language's inventory of lexemes. The word ''lexicon'' derives from Greek word (), neuter of () meaning 'of or fo ...

, Mark Levinson,

Martin Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austr ...

, Revel,

Soundcraft Soundcraft is a British designer and importer (formerly a manufacturer) of mixing consoles and other professional audio equipment. It is a subsidiary of Harman International Industries, which is owned by South Korean company Samsung Electronic ...

and

Studer Studer is a designer and manufacturer of professional audio equipment for recording studios and broadcasters. The company was founded in Zürich, Switzerland, in 1948 by Willi Studer. It initially became known in the 1950s for its professiona ...

Early history

Sidney Harman Sidney Harman (August 4, 1918 – April 12, 2011) was a Canadian-born American engineer and businessman active in education, government, industry, and publishing. He was the Chairman Emeritus of Harman International Industries, Inc. A co-fo ...

and Bernard Kardon founded the predecessor to Harman International, Harman Kardon, in 1953. Both Harman and Kardon were engineers by training and had worked at the Bogen Company, which was a manufacturer of public address systems. They developed high-fidelity audio together. Harman bought out his partner in 1956 and then expanded Harman Kardon into an audio powerhouse, according to a biography written by the Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame.

Acquisitions and expansion

In the 1960s, Harman Kardon grew larger and acquired other audio houses (such as JBL). In the 1970s, Harman accepted an appointment in the

Carter administration Jimmy Carter's tenure as the 39th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 1977, and ended on January 20, 1981. A Democrat from Georgia, Carter took office after defeating incumbent Republican Preside ...

as deputy secretary of the Department of Commerce. When Harman took office in 1976 as head in charge, he sold his company to conglomerate

Beatrice Foods Beatrice Foods Company was a major American food processing company founded in 1894. In 1987, its international food operations were sold to Reginald Lewis, a corporate attorney, creating TLC Beatrice International, after which the majority of ...

to avoid a conflict of interest. Beatrice promptly sold many portions of the company, including the original Harman Kardon division, and by 1980 only 60% of the original company remained. After he left his government position in 1978, he created Harman International Industries and reacquired a number of businesses he sold to Beatrice. The company continued its growth plan with a string of acquisitions throughout the 1980s that pushed Harman International's sales from about $80 million in 1981 to more than $200 million by 1986, and then to more than $500 million by 1989. Harman International went public in 1986 with a stock offering on the New York Stock Exchange. Cash from that sale was used to, among many other purchases, buy

, a UK producer of professional mixing boards, in 1988 and later – Salt Lake City digital electronics producer DOD Electronics Corp. By 1994, Harman International was selling consumer audio gear under such brands as JBL, Harman Kardon, Infinity and Epicure loudspeakers, as well as professional audio systems with such brands as JBL Professional,

UREI United Recording Electronics Industries (UREI) was a manufacturer of recording, mixing and audio signal processing hardware for the professional recording studio, live sound and broadcasting fields. History Bill Putnam Sr. founded Universal ...

, Soundcraft,

Allen & Heath Allen & Heath (also known as AH or A&H) is a company based in Penryn, Cornwall, England, specialising in the manufacture of audio mixing consoles. Allen & Heath also makes sound management systems for industrial installations and DJ mixers ...

, dbx, Studer, DOD, Lexicon, AKG, BSS, Orban, Quested and Turbosound (the last one now under the control of

Music Group A musical ensemble, also known as a music group or musical group, is a group of people who perform Instrumental music, instrumental and/or vocal music, with the ensemble typically known by a distinct name. Some music ensembles consist solely ...

). In 2003

Madrigal Audio Laboratories Madrigal Audio Laboratories was founded in 1984 by Sanford Berlin (1927 – March 11, 2008), when he took over the Highend audio-company Mark Levinson. Further brands of Madrigal were Audioaccess, Proceed, Madrigal, Imaging. 1997 the subsidia ...

were bought, which includes Highend Mark Levinson and Revel. In July 2011, Harman acquired MWM Acoustics. Harman expanded to include lighting in 2013 with the acquisition of Martin Professional. In June 2014, Harman completed the acquisition of

AMX LLC AMX (formerly AMX, LLC) is an American manufacturer of video switching and control devices. It is currently owned by Samsung Electronics through Harman International Industries, and is part of the Harman Professional Division. Overview Scott ...

. In March 2015, Harman acquired the automotive division of

for 145 million euros ($156 million) for the unit as well as technology license fees. The purchase didn't include Bang & Olufsen's consumer-electronics business. In 2015, recognizing the increasing role of software and services in the markets it served, Harman expanded its capabilities around cloud, mobility and analytics with the acquisitions of

Symphony Teleca Harman Connected Services, often abbreviated to HCS, is an American subsidiary of Samsung Electronics through Harman International Industries. The Connected Services Division supplies software services to the mobile communications industry. HCS ...

, a software services company based in Mountain View, CA, and Redbend, an Israeli-based provider of software management technology for connected devices, and over-the-air (OTA) software and firmware upgrading services. With these additions, Harman announced the formation of a fourth division, which they called Connected Services. In March 2016, Harman acquired the automotive cyber-security firm TowerSec. This acquisition increased Harman's competencies in the emerging automotive cyber-security field. This was evidenced by the subsequent launch of the company's '5+1 security framework' incorporating TowerSec's 'ECU shield' technology. This acquisition was notable for further demonstrating Harman's desire to expand beyond its traditional business areas of in-car audio and entertainment systems. On November 14, 2016, Harman entered into an agreement to be acquired by Samsung. In February 2017, Harman International shareholders voted in favor of the acquisition by Samsung. On March 10, 2017, the acquisition was completed, with Harman becoming the independent subsidiary of Samsung. In March 13, 2018 Harman International announced strategic association with Samsung SmartThings, a wholly owned and independent subsidiary of Samsung. Through this collaboration, Harman will work with SmartThings to design and develop of the SmartThings app, integrate third-party sensors and drive initiatives for IoT platform hub. As of early April, 2022 the DOD and DigiTech brands appeared to have been discontinued or sold to another company. Tom Cram, former Product Development Manager, speaking of rumors about him rejoining the company stated, "you need to push those rosy thoughts right out of your heads.” On April 25 2022 Cor-Tek Corporation stated they acquired those brands and their intellectual assets.

Private equity attempt

Harman International Industries was to delist from NYSE in Q3/2007 due to a buy-out by

KKR KKR & Co. Inc., also known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., is an American global investment company that manages multiple alternative asset classes, including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate, credit, and, through its strateg ...

and

Goldman Sachs Capital Partners Goldman Sachs Capital Partners is the private equity arm of Goldman Sachs, focused on leveraged buyout and growth capital investments globally. The group, which is based in New York City, was founded in 1986. As of 2019, GS Capital Partners ...

. However, as of mid September 2007, KKR announced they would back out of the deal. On the news, Harman shares plummeted by more than 24%. Coincident with the buy-out deal,

Dinesh Paliwal Dinesh C. Paliwal (born December 17, 1957) is an Indian American business executive. He was the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Harman International, a provider of audio and infotainment systems for the automotive, consumer, and ...

was hired as company president and CEO in July 2007. On July 1, 2008, Sidney Harman was succeeded by Dinesh Paliwal as chairman of the board. In April 2020 he was succeeded by Michael Mauser, who has been working 22 years for Harman.

Brands

AIR The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing f ...

– a cross-platform runtime system for building desktop applications and mobile applications * AKG – microphone/headphones * AMX – video switching and control devices * Arcam – high end home audio – amplifiers and audio components * AXYS Tunnel – Amplifier for public tunnel *

Automotive – car audio * Becker – car infotainment * BSS Audio –

signal processing Signal processing is an electrical engineering subfield that focuses on analyzing, modifying and synthesizing '' signals'', such as sound, images, and scientific measurements. Signal processing techniques are used to optimize transmissions, ...

Crown International Crown International, or Crown Audio, is an American manufacturer of audio electronics, and is a subsidiary of Harman International Industries, which has been part of South Korea-based Samsung Electronics since 2017. Today, the company is known ...

– pro amplifiers * dbx – signal processors * DigiTech – guitar products * HALOsonic – Noise Management Solutions * HardWire – guitar pedals * Harman Kardon – home/car audio * HiQnet – control network for digital audio equipment, supporting communication over TCP/IP, USB and RS232 *

– home/car speakers/headphones * JBL – home/car speakers & amplifiers, professional speakers, headphones *

– digital processing *

Mark Levinson Audio Systems Mark Levinson is an American high-end audio equipment brand established in 1972 by eponymous founder Mark Levinson, and based in Stamford, Connecticut. It is owned by Harman International Industries, a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics. Histo ...

– home/car audio * Martin Professional – stage and architectural lighting and effects fixtures * Revel – home/car speakers * Selenium – home, car and professional speakers, amplifiers, sound tables/mixers * S1nn GmbH & Co. *

– mixing consoles *

– mixing consoles, sold to Evertz Microsystems 2021 * Caaresys — in-cabin safety systems

References

External links

* {{Authority control Manufacturing companies based in Connecticut Companies based in Stamford, Connecticut Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange American companies established in 1980 Electronics companies established in 1980 American subsidiaries of foreign companies Samsung Electronics 1980s initial public offerings 2017 mergers and acquisitions