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Corporate History

Dec. 1946 Established Kasuga Radio Co., Ltd. (predecessor of Kenwood Corporation) in Komagane, Nagano Prefecture
Feb. 1947 Succeeded in manufacturing high-performance radio parts (high-frequency coils)
Jun. 1949 Trio’s high-frequency coil passed the NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) approval certificate for the first time in Japan
Jan. 1950 Renamed Kasuga Radio Industry Corporation
Feb. 1955 Established the Tokyo office in Ota-ku, Tokyo, and began mass production of audio, communications and measuring equipment
Apr. 1957 Began exporting FM tuners for the first time as a Japanese manufacturer
Jan. 1958 Relocated the head office from Akaho, Komagane, Nagano Prefecture to the Tokyo Plant in Yukigaya, Ota-ku, Tokyo
Jan. 1960 Renamed Trio Electronics, Inc.
Oct. 1961 Listed on the second section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange
Sep. 1962 Launched the industry’s first transistor amplifier
Jul. 1963 Established the Hachioji Business Center in Hachioji, Tokyo
Dec. 1963 Set up Company’s first overseas sales firm in the U.S. (present Kenwood U.S.A. Corporation) and began full-scale overseas operations
Jun. 1965 Relocated the head office from Ota-ku, Tokyo to Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Jan. 1966 Fully transistorized audio products for the first time in the industry
Oct. 1969 Listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange
Aug. 1971 Relocated the head office from Shibuya-ku, Tokyo to Meguro-ku, Tokyo
Mar. 1978 Entered the commercial wireless radio equipment field, by introducing commercial wireless radio terminal in Japan
Apr. 1979 Set up Company’s first overseas production firm in Singapore (present Kenwood Electronics Technologies (S) Pte. Ltd.)
Apr. 1980 Entered the car audio field, launching car audio systems in the U.S.
Dec. 1980 Relocated the head office from Meguro-ku, Tokyo to Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Jul. 1981 Set up production subsidiary Tohoku Trio (present Kenwood Yamagata Corp.) in Tsuruoka, Yamagata Prefecture
Aug. 1981 Decided on “KENWOOD” as the corporate brand
Sep. 1982 Entered the portable audio field, introducing portable FM radio
May 1983 Entered the Business & Industry sector of commercial wireless radio field, by beginning to sell Land Mobile Radio equipment in the U.S.
Jun. 1986 Renamed Kenwood Corporation
Aug. 1989 Established the Yokohama Business Center in Midori-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture
Aug. 1989 Entered the public safety sector of commercial wireless radio field, by beginning to sell Land Mobile Radio equipment, establishing the base for commercial wireless radio business
Jun. 1990 Set up production subsidiary Kenwood Nagano Corporation in Ina, Nagano Prefecture
Oct. 1991 Developed the radio systems for F1 world championship race and began an official supplier contract with the Team McLaren
Mar. 1992 Entered the car navigation system field, launching the industry's first 1DIN-size GPS car navigation system
Mar. 1994 Entered the mobile phone field, introducing digital mobile phones
Dec. 1996 Entered the mobile phone field for overseas markets, by launching GSM phones
Feb. 1997 Supplied Real Focus Sound System for Forester and 2nd Legacy of Subaru, establishing the base for the OEM business
Apr. 1998 Entered the PC peripheral device field, introducing the industry’s fastest 40x CD-ROM drive
Nov. 2000 Withdrew from the GSM phone and CD-ROM drive businesses
Mar. 2001 Announced the “Mid-term Reconstruction Plan”
Sep. 2001 Issued new shares worth a total of 7.1 billion yen through a third-party allocation
May 2002 Booked negative net worth in the fiscal year ended March 2002, and announced the “Kenwood Revitalization Plan”
May 2002 Withdrew from the test and measuring equipment business
Jun. 2002 Relocated the head office from Shibuya-ku, Tokyo to the Hachioji Office in Hachioji, Tokyo
Jul. 2002 Announcedthe “Revitalization Action Plan”
Oct. 2002 Issued new shares worth a total of 2.0 billion yen through a third-party allocation
Nov. 2002 Withdrew from development/production of digital mobile phones
Dec. 2002 Eliminated negative net worth through a debt-for-equity swap amounting to 25.0 billion yen
Feb. 2003 Launched “Production Innovation” activities under the slogan of “KENWOOD Quarter QCD (quality, cost and delivery) Revolution”
May 2003 Accomplished a V-shaped recovery in earnings as a result of four structural reforms, and posted a record consolidated net income in the fiscal year ended March 2003
May 2003 Announced the first mid-term business plan “Excellent Kenwood Plan”
Sep. 2003 Announced the “Seamless Entertainment” concept that integrates car electronics and home electronics
May 2004 Posted a record consolidated net income in the fiscal year ended March 2004 for the second consecutive year by enhancing consolidated management and implementing “Production Innovation” activities
Jun. 2004 Acquired the wireless radio operations of Toyo Communication Equipment Co., Ltd.
Aug. 2004 Completed the “New Financial Strategy”, and entirely eliminated cumulative loss, redeemed the first tranche class-A preferred stocks, terminated financial agreements, and substantially reduced interest-bearing debts
Feb. 2005 Formed a technical and capital alliance with Icom Inc. to jointly research the standardization of technical specifications for digital wireless radio equipment
May 2005 Formulated the second mid-term business plan “Value Creation Plan”
Jun. 2005 Resumed dividend payments for the first time in six years
Aug. 2005 Redeemed the first tranche class-B preferred stock, thereby completely redeemed all preferred stocks that were issued in association with a debt-for-equity swap
Jun. 2007 Blaupunkt and Kenwood planed cooperation, partnership in portable navigation Innovative features for globally usable devices
Mar. 2007 Entered into a tie-up with EADS Secure Networks North America, a company of the group headed by the leading European aerospace and defense corporation EADS, to mutually supply Digital Land Mobile Radio equipment
Mar. 2007 Launched the “dPMR MoU Group” voluntary organization jointly with Icom Inc. and radio equipment companies in Europe in order to establish standards for commercial digital wireless radio equipment for business & industry sectors
May 2007 Converted Zetron, Inc., a U.S. systems-based communication company into a subsidiary
Aug. 2007 Invested 20.0 billion yen and formed a strategic business alliance in/with Victor Company of Japan, Limited

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