Everyone that has been into radio for a while will know the brand Kenwood. And most know Kenwood isn’t only into Amateur radio, they are bigger than that, and have been also. But are you sure it started in Japan? What else do they make? How big are they today? And what does the name Kenwood stand for?
Kenwood is a Japanese brand of consumer electronics.
In December 1946, Kenwood was established as the Kasuga Radio Co. Ltd. in Komagane, Nagano Prefecture, Japan
In 1958 the company put its first amateur radio on sale.
In 1960, the company was renamed Trio Corporation.
In 1962 they launched the industry’s first transistor amplifier
In 1963, the company established its first overseas office in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It began to sell overseas.
During the 1960s, Trio’s products were rebranded and sold by the Lafayette Radio Company, which focused on citizens band (CB) radio.
The name Kenwood was invented by Kasuga as a combination of
- “Ken” which is a name common to Japan and North America and was considered acceptable to American consumers, and
- “Wood” which was referring to the material wood, as well as suggesting a relation to Hollywood, California.
In 1966 they introduced the fully transistorised audio products for the first time in the industry.
In 1969 the TR-7100 2m amateur radio for the car goes on sale.
In 1979 the company established the first production overseas in Singapore.
In 1986, Trio acquired Kenwood and subsequently rebranded itself as Kenwood Corporation. This was because Kenwood was more widely recognised than Trio.
In 1991 Kenwood signs an official supply contract with McLearen to provide wireless radio equipment for the F1 Championship
In 1992 they produced their first car navigation system
In 1995, the Mir Space Station carries Kenwood’s amateur wireless equipment.
In 1996 the company was renamed from Tri-Kenwood to Kenwood which coincided with the company’s 50th anniversary.
In 1997 Kenwood made Japan’s first car mounted DAB receivers.
In 2001, Kenwood releases its first digital transceiver operating on P25.
In 2002 they withdrew from the test and measuring equipment business
In 2005, Kenwood joins up with Icom to jointly research the standardisation of technical specifications for digital wireless radio equipment (NXDN).
Since October 2008, Kenwood has been owned by JVC-Kenwood because of a merger between Kenwood Corporation and JVC.
Kenwood has manufactured electronic equipment such as
- AM/FM stereo receivers,
- cassette tape decks/recorders,
- amateur radio (ham radio) equipment,
- radios,
- televisions,
- mobile phones,
- speakers, and
- other consumer electronics.
Radio
Kenwood has produced two-way radios for a variety of communications standards, including:
- wireless DECT intercom systems,
- the radio frequency PMR446 and its digital counterpart DPMR446,
- DPMR, the Project 25 standards suite,
- DMR and
- NXDN
Kenwood Today
The Kenwood radio catalogue of today shows what radios they are selling now.
These include
- hand held radios that are single, dual and tri band radios
- Mobile dual band radios some complete with remote heads. Again single and dual band radios.
- All band HF radios some small, some are large and covered in buttons and options
- And all band HF, VHF and UHF radios
Today their website shows they are into
- Car electronics including digital technology and enhanced in-car comfort and navigation. They have some very cool photos of their motorsports equipment on their website. https://www.kenwood.com/e/motorsports/
- Communications using digital technology handheld and base stations, from Professional through to CB radios
- Audio and digital communications
Kenwood Logo
So, what do you know about the Kenwood logo?
If you go to their smart website, you can see the red triangle in the logo isn’t there to just look pretty.
The red triangle is the core part of their logo and represents the three values of the Kenwood brand.
- Advanced
- High Quality
- Sharpness
But it doesn’t stop there, the four corners of the W stands for
- Precision
- Innovation
- Emotion
- Communication
Your thoughts
So, what do you think, does Kenwood measure up to your expectations? Tell me in the comments below.
What Kenwood radios did, or do you have? What did you think of it? I’d love to know.
For me, I have had a few but still use occasionally the Kenwood TS-120V. It was one of my first HF radio’s and I bought it before the internet was available. I though it was the 100W version, but quickly found out it is not. That said, I enjoy using it every now and then.
So, what did what you learn? I know I learnt a bit. I’m keen to hear what you learnt today.
How many of the Kenwood Radios do you know that I have shown in this video?
If you enjoyed that read, then you may enjoy some of these, including my post on Yaesu which is just as informative.
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