[Kenwood] Kenwood's Amateur Radio Plans

[peter markavage]

That's probably as good as guess as anything else. Unlike Icom and Yaesu,
Kenwood seems to keep their R&D development fairly quiet until they
announce the product is ready for distribution.

Pete, wa2cwa

On Thu, 10 Mar 2005 10:01:21 -0800 "J. Moen (K0ZXU/6)" <jmm at jwmoen.com>
writes:
> I just joined this list.  I posted a note (shown at bottom) on 
> another 
> Kenwood list, asking if anyone knew about Kenwood's plans for 
> staying in the 
> Amateur Radio business.  One response (shown below) said Kenwood has 
> 
> suspended Ham R&D for 2 years.
> 
> Could someone please re-post that note, and are there any other 
> details?
> 
>  During this transition from analog to digital radio, with the 
> increasing 
> need for all services to increase spectral efficiency, is it 
> possible 
> Kenwood plans to develop new digital RF technologies for the 
> commercial 
> services first, then apply those to Amateur Radio in 2-3 years 
> (along the 
> lines of the D-Star standards)?  Or am I being too optimistic?
> 
>      Jim - K0ZXU/6
> 
>  ----- Original Message ----- 
>  From: John Geiger
> Sent: Wednesday, March 09, 2005 11:10 AM
> Subject: RE: Future of Kenwood Amateur Radio business
> 
>  A message posted on the Kenwood reflector, about a conversation 
> with a 
> Kenwood rep, said that Kenwood is suspending R and D in the amateur 
> arena 
> for 2 years while they focus on the land mobile market.
> 
>  ------------  My post on another list ---------
> 
> I have a TS-2000, TM-D700 and TH-D7A(g).  I really like these 
> radios, since 
> they work well and have features many other radios don't have -- and 
> 
> features which I personally enjoy and do use.
> 
> While I'm not sure of the exact dates, it seems to me the creative 
> efforts 
> that went into building these radios were done in the late 1990s.  
> Since 
> then, Kenwood has come out with the TS-480 series, and recently has 
> also 
> brought out a clone of the TM-D700 without APRS and PC support.   I 
> do like 
> the 480's built-in remote control functionality, but it also seems 
> to 
> partially target the mobile market, while lacking VHF/UHF which the 
> ICOM 706 
> has.
> 
> When I look at the ICOM Amateur Radio activity, I don't get excited 
> about 
> the 7800 -  I don't plan on spending over $10,000 for a radio any 
> time soon, 
> but I know that R&D for high-end products eventually trickles down 
> into 
> lower end products.  Now I hear ICOM will be releasing a replacement 
> for 
> their 706 (probably will be the IC-7000) with a detachable color 
> control 
> head and IF-DSP.  It probably lacks many of the Kenwood features I 
> enjoy (or 
> will enjoy -- like Sky Command if FCC eventually legalizes it).
> 
> But I'm forced to wonder if Kenwood has plans for future Amateur 
> Radio gear. 
> Are they working on new stuff, or are they resting on their laurels? 
>  I know 
> we are a small market, and it is hard to recover R&D costs when you 
> spread 
> them over a small volume of sales.
> 
> They don't seem to be well organized.  I attended Pacificon in 2004. 
>  The 
> Kenwood booth was empty.  I guess it was good they paid for a space, 
> but it 
> didn't say much when they couldn't get  employees to be there.
> 
> Is Kenwood simply milking as much cash out of their old R&D costs as 
> they 
> can, perhaps having shut down future development?  With few new 
> Amateur 
> products over the last 5 years or so, is Kenwood going to stay in 
> this line 
> of business?