But is Onkyo’s plan working? According to Ted Green, business strategy insights expert and founder of, Onkyo’s plan seemed to be showing positive signs as recently as last November.
Onkyo had been preparing for difficult times long before we even knew about COVID-19, despite losses and compounding problems that may have sunk another company, Onkyo had already been working a recovery plan. The industry had turned, and in 2012 the company owners began a concerted effort to find a buyer for the business.” In fact, for years now the company has seen its fortunes decline – losing money every year since 2013 (in terms of ordinary profits). “But for Onkyo, COVID is truly only part of the story.
But we’ll soon see if Onkyo’s resolve to stay in the fight has paid off, because that JASDAQ deadline is at the end of its fiscal year, March 31st, 2021. The Tokyo Stock Exchange gave Onkyo a limited window of time to get itself together or be delisted from the JASDAQ stock exchange. Insolvency hit Onkyo after reporting a global revenue decline of 49.3% in its fiscal year 2020 with a record net loss of over $90-million (from FY 2019). Is Onkyo Out of Business? YouTube Video Discussion To maintain an already strained football analogy, Onkyo was going to throw the ball in possibly the most dramatic play of its life. Restructuring its global business was only part of that plan. But Onkyo wasn’t there yet and instead decided to work its plan to get out of trouble. Bankruptcy on the other hand, is a measure taken to address insolvency. Insolvency is where a company cannot pay its bills, a financial state that was a first in Onkyo's long history.
No, Onkyo never filed for bankruptcy, at least not yet. But no matter how bad it got, it only seemed to add to the company’s resolve to fight.Īs winter 2020 set in, we heard the bad news that Onkyo was insolvent. For Onkyo it was salt rubbed into already significant wounds. Between COVID-19 lock-downs and a fire at a Japanese AKM plant that wiped out important digital audio components used in A/V receivers, supply issues were almost certainly felt across the industry. Problems with supply were understandable in 2020, it was a bad year for us all, but may have hit the Japanese audio industry particularly hard. This is what led to late year speculation that Onkyo had either closed its doors for good, or at the very least was suffering from serious supply chain issues. Although we may never know the details, it may have been Onkyo’s steely self-confidence that curtailed the Sound United deal to purchase Onkyo and its properties including Pioneer.īut the company's 2020 difficulties also included reports from customers and dealers alike facing difficulty getting product, parts and warranty repairs. This was just part of a plan that included much internal restructuring in both Japan and its global businesses. Last summer we reported that Onkyo USA closed its doors for good and handed-off North American distribution to Klipsch (under 11 Trading Company). To say 2020 was a rough year for Onkyo is an understatement. Rumors of Onkyo’s bankruptcy have been greatly exaggerated! But as its fiscal year draws to a close on March 31st, the historic Japanese audio firm may be pulling-off a spectacular Hail Mary and turning its fortunes around for 2021.