Aiwa
- For the Fijian island, see Aiwa (Fiji).
 |
|
| Former type | Electronics |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1951 |
| Defunct | 2002 (company) 2006 (brand) |
| Parent | Sony Corporation (2002-2006) |
Aiwa (アイワ) was a Japanese consumer electronics company, founded in 1951. It produced audio and video equipment in the 1970s and 1980s.
[edit] History
The Aiwa Corporation slid towards bankruptcy until it was purchased by competitor Sony Corporation. As of October 1, 2002, Aiwa ceased to be a separate company and became a wholly owned division of Sony Corporation. The company retained a logo from the mid 1990s which was used for a very short time.
Sony's reasoning for acquiring the company is unclear, other than that it was already a shareholder in Aiwa Corporation. However, Aiwa has been eligible for a tax refund[citation needed] in Japan for FY2002. This offset the dropping figures in Sony's financial report for FY 2002/2003. In January 2003 Sony announced the rebranding and relaunch of Aiwa as a "youth focused, PC-Centric" electronics brand. A new logo was presented to the world's media along with a statement of Sony's intention to invest in and "revitalize" the Aiwa brand.
The direction proposed was to capitalize on the growing trend among PC-literate teenagers and young adults to use their PCs for all forms of entertainment (TV, films, music, chat), an area in which Sony itself was struggling primarily due to the heavy copyright protections it imposed upon its products[citation needed].
Since 2004, however, Sony has seemingly been rolling back its support for the Aiwa brand and in 2005 Aiwa products remain on sale in only selected territories around the globe. In 2006, Aiwa products were discontinued and no longer sold in the market.
As of August 2010, the Aiwa website still exists for some territories/regions, but it contains some broken links and blank pages. In other regions, such as Europe, it redirects to a page on the Sony site stating that the Aiwa website has closed down. The last apparent update to the website was in June 2008.[1]
[edit] References
[edit] External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: AIWA |
- Global Website of Aiwa
- U.S. Website of Aiwa
- Vintage Cassette Decks Collection of Aiwa Vintage Cassette decks and other brands.
