CEO Jamie Engen told us: "This is the next step in the modernization and streamlining of our worldwide manufacturing and product development resources. In the last year, we've established a network of worldwide manufacturing resources and have added significantly to our product development and engineering teams for both the Mackie and EAW brands. This sale will allow us to better leverage these resources, unencumbered, to bring the most innovative products to market in a timely manner."
Loud will continue selling products to the Italian market through an independent distributor and is planning to address the worldwide commercial sound market with a new line of products under the well-established EAW brand. Ken Berger, senior vice-president of marketing and product development at Loud Technologies, said: "Over the last year, we've been focussed on developing a coherent brand strategy for all of our products and markets. The strength of EAW in the engineered systems market makes it the natural brand under which to consolidate all of our commercial audio products."
The first products from the new EAW commercial systems group will be unveiled in early 2004. During the transition to EAW Commercial, Loud says it will continue to provide its worldwide network of dealers, distributors and system designers with key commercial audio products.
Just to recap - there are now five brands in the Loud Technologies portfolio: Mackie (the primary MI retail brand); Tapco by Mackie (the entry-level retail brand); EAW (high-end sound reinforcement, pro touring and commercial audio); SIA Software (sound system measurement software); and Acuma Labs (embedded software solutions for pro audio).
(Lee Baldock)
