Pioneer to leave the DJ business

Pioneer to leave the DJ business

"Despite dominating the industry, the Japanese giant faces serious financial woes. Japanese financial websites are reporting Pioneer is getting out of the DJ business.

After selling over 85% of its DJ subsidiary to investment firm KKR & Co. in 2015, both parties are now in talks to offload the entire stock to new buyers, reports Nikkei Business. The report goes on to say bidding has already begun with an expected price to land between 60 billion to 70 billion yen, which is upwards of $500 million in US currency.

Pioneer DJ, the subsidiary created during the original sale to KKR & Co., had sales of over $200 million in 2018 despite the parent company making net losses in 2016 and 2017. According to Nikkei Asian Review, Pioneer DJ controls between 60 and 70% of the global share in DJ mixers, turntables and other products.

Despite the dominance of its DJ arm, Pioneer is currently restructuring and was recently bailed out by Baring Private Equity Asia, a Hong Kong buyout firm, to the tune of $930 million. Japan Times reports that the deal involved laying off 3,000 employees, which amounts to some 15% of Pioneer's total workforce."

some people are saying this is a hoax

It shouldn't matter either way.

The Pioneer DJ brand isn't necessarily going away; it just won't be Pioneer that owns a(n apparently small) share in it.

Assuming that it is 100% true...

The bigger worry is that the brand might not be profitable. If it were, Pioneer would probably be selling other less-profitable divisions/subsidiaries to focus on the profitable one.

Sadly, that probably means that the DJ world as a whole might be moving toward shorter lifecycle products, which would effectively make the hobby more expensive. A lot of tech-things are moving that way...O365, Adobe Creative Cloud, subscription/season-based gaming, and a bunch of other examples.

Pro Tools already uses this model and has for a while (though they also offer perpetual licenses with limited upgrades).

I don't like that model, but it is "better" for the companies in a lot of ways.

That would be my fear.

"

Dear our customers

In 2015, Pioneer DJ separated from Pioneer Corporation (car and home audio) becoming a separate entity, focusing on the electronic music industry.

While there are market speculations over Pioneer DJ’s shareholding, our mission to continue to innovate and inspire people globally will continue in 2019 and beyond. We are committed to investing in the industry and inspiring creativity in DJs and artists through the support of product development and production. As a result, our business continues to demonstrate positive growth thanks to the ongoing support of our customers. We look forward to delivering more innovative products and a very exciting future in the electronic music industry.

Thanks,

Pioneer DJ
"

Here is Pioneer DJ’s New Owner: Noritsu