[Kenwood] Kenwood Status

[jmm at k6jm.com]

Others have done a good job of reminding us all that these Kenwood rumors come
up every few years.  At the same time, since so far we lack further facts, we
are all free to speculate.

On one of these rumor cycles about a decade ago, I found an article about how
the Kenwood amateur radio division designs new amateur radio products.  While
competitors like ICOM and Yaesu have engineers dedicated to amateur radio,
Kenwood does not.  The process instead is to have the amateur radio group
develop the requirements for a new radio, then when the project is given the
green light, they borrow designers from the commercial land/mobile group to
design the amateur radio product.  So they get high-end engineers to do the
work, but those people are not dedicated to amateur radio.

And as we have all seen, they attempt to design a new radio that leads the pack
in features, with hopes the product will be viable for many more years than is
typical in the amateur radio segment.  An example is the TS-2000 -- it was
first shipped in 2001 and production was finally shut down in 2018. 

It is also true that the profit center for the radio side of JVCKenwood is the
commercial land/mobile part of the business.  This is a big deal, and it is
very, very unlikely JVCKenwood will exit that business.   And given how they
keep their amateur radio group's costs down but maintain high quality, it is
unlikely they will exit the amateur radio business either.

But, as has been posted, we have no facts here and of course they could decide
to change course at any time.  I personally think that unlikely, but (as they
teach first-year journalism students to never write):  time will tell.

     Jim - K6JM

-----Original Message-----
From: kenwood-bounces at mailman.qth.net <kenwood-bounces at mailman.qth.net> On
Behalf Of Gary H. Harmon, Jr.
Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2022 5:07 PM
To: kenwood at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [Kenwood] Kenwood Status
Importance: High

One of my local buds called to see if I heard any rumors about Kenwood going
out of business.

Any facts or just rumors??

Best 73,

Gary H. Harmon, Jr. - K5JWK
GROUP MODERATOR / LIST ADMINISTRATOR
HAM Radio, HEATHKIT, and ATARI Archaeologist


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