TOKYO, Aug. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- D&M Holdings Inc. (TSE II: 6735),
today announced it would exit the mass-market portable digital audio player
business, currently marketed under the Rio brand, by September 30, 2005. D&M
Holdings will retain the Rio brand and trademark, and as previously announced
the company retains access via license to MP3 player technology that was sold
in July to SigmaTel, Inc. (Nasdaq: SGTL).
D&M Holdings Inc. is based in Tokyo and owns the Denon, Marantz, McIntosh
Laboratory, D&M Professional, ReplayTV(R), Rio(R) and Escient(R) brands. All
are established brands in premium home theater, audio-video consumer
electronics, professional audio or networked digital entertainment markets.
The company's decision to exit the Rio business followed a determination
that the mass-market portable digital audio player market was not a strong
enough strategic fit with the company's core and profitable premium consumer
electronics brands to warrant additional investment in the category. The
original goal of strategic advantage with wholly-owned and branded portable
client devices was reconsidered in the context of the costs required to
effectively scale and compete in this sector, where competition has grown
intense. D&M Holdings will now focus all its resources on the core Premium AV
business and advanced content server products.
"The digital audio market is evolving in such a way that our competitive
advantage will be to focus on creating premium home network products that are
designed for compatibility with a variety of client devices and services,"
said Vic Pacor, president of D&M Holdings.
D&M Holdings will continue to support retailers and customers of its Rio
brand through all final sale and post-sales activities, including customer
service, repair, warranty and sales channel support. D&M Holdings is committed
to continuing service levels without compromise. Details of the financial
impact of this plan are available in the company's latest financial results
that were released today.
The company also said completion of the previously announced plans to
purchase Boston Acoustics, Inc. is imminent. "This acquisition is right in
line with our premium-focused strategy," Pacor said. "We see significant ways
to immediately leverage the Boston Acoustics brand in our already established
distribution channels, and we look forward to bringing the signature Boston
Sound(TM) to our family of premium brands," he said. Boston Acoustics is a
successful manufacturer of high-end, high-performance audio systems including
home loudspeakers, tabletop models and speakers for the automotive industry
About D&M Holdings Inc.
D&M Holdings Inc. (TSE II: 6735) is based in Tokyo and owns the Denon,
Marantz, McIntosh Laboratory, D&M Professional, ReplayTV(R), Rio(R) and
Escient(R) brands. Denon, Marantz, McIntosh and D&M Professional are global
industry leaders in the specialist home theater, audio/video consumer
electronics or professional audio markets, with a strong and long-standing
heritage of manufacturing and marketing high-performance audio and video
components. The ReplayTV, Rio and Escient brands represent award-winning
technologies in digital home entertainment. Additional information is
available at http://www.dm-holdings.com.
Statements in this news release regarding D&M Holdings, Inc. that are not
statements of historical fact may include forward looking statements regarding
future events or the future financial performance of the company. We wish to
caution you that such statements are just predictions and that actual events
or results may differ materially. Forward looking statements involve a number
of risks and uncertainties surrounding the integration of the company's
acquisitions, competitive and industry conditions, targeted cost savings
programs, market acceptance for the company's products, technological changes,
developing industry standards and other factors related to the company's
businesses.
SOURCE D&M Holdings Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.dm-holdings.com
CONTACT:
Zen-Ichiro Ishibashi D&M Holdings, Inc.
+81-42-748-7700; Hector Marinez of Porter Novelli for Rio in the
US, +1-408-369-4650, hector.marinez@porternovelli.com; Sara
Trujillo of Dobbin/Bolgla Associates for D&M Holdings,
+1-212-388-1400, strujillo@dba-pr.com
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