It’s that time of the year when holidays are coming and people across the world are looking forward to the new beginnings, developments and experiences that will come to life next year. This spirit is very much alive right now at HARMAN, where various teams are working hard to ring in the New Year with a bang at CES 2020! As HARMAN prepares to join its peers on the floor in Las Vegas and bring forth best-in-class products, technologies, connectivity and experiences, we wanted to take a look back at some of the biggest moves that HARMAN made this past year to elevate the connected car, home, technologies and lifestyle.
Portables that Make Happen 100 Million Smiles
HARMAN and JBL celebrated the milestone of 100 million portable speakers shipped globally, creating 100 million happy customers and reaching an industry milestone. Our success is a result of HARMAN and JBL's willingness to break free from industry standards. Before the creation of JBL portable speakers, JBL primarily focused on professional and luxury audio equipment. However, as the market entered into connective technology (i.e., Bluetooth), our team realized that there were unmet needs, so we shifted gears and listened to what consumers wanted and needed. In 2012, JBL introduced consumers to JBL Flip, and JBL Charge quickly followed. Today, JBL's portable speaker line has seven products and 26 iterations.
Partnerships that Power In-Car Experiences
HARMAN announced multiple automotive partnerships with leading OEMs like Ford, BMW, and Audi to transform in-car audio experiences. Ford brought Bang & Olufsen's sound technology onboard its new 2020 Ford Puma, creating vibrant and engaging driving experiences for both drivers and passengers everywhere. Quickly following the debut of the Ford Puma, Audi announced at IAA 2019 that it, too, will leverage Bang & Olufsen's sound system technology, specifically its 3D Sound System for the brand new Audi RS6 and RS7. In addition, BMW will continue to feature the acoustic expertise of Bowers & Wilkins and Harman Kardon's beautiful sound technologies for the new 2019 BMW 7 and 8 Series.
Innovations that Win Awards
HARMAN continued to earn top accolades with its innovative and creative technologies. In 2019, HARMAN collaborated with Samsung to reimagine the Samsung Galaxy Earbuds powered by AKG. Our audio engineers also produced a unique and adaptive audio codec called the Scalable Codec, which enables the earbuds to adapt the audio rate depending on the device's connection quality. We also continued work within HARMAN embedded audio, a dedicated business unit that will team up with partners and clients to develop audio and voice-enabled products and solutions for consumer electronics, IoT, robotics, and healthcare technologies. As a result of our continuous efforts to push the boundaries and pioneer new technologies, we received 18 iF World Design awards across a wide array of products from our powerhouse brands like JBL, Harman Kardon, and Mark Levinson.
2020 & Beyond: What's Next For the New Decade?
HARMAN partnered with Futuresource Consulting and conducted a study with more than 8,000 consumers across six countries, exploring the "Future of Listening." With 90 percent of respondents considering sound to be an integral part of life, our research indicates that 2020 will be a "decade of sound." The study also revealed that in the upcoming year, and the new era, technology will be the focal point in bringing consumers personalized and immersive audio experiences. Technological innovations like AI and VR will drive audio experiences tomorrow.
Since HARMAN's inception, we have placed our focus on delivering quality experiences, and at CES 2020, we will bring an evolution of that experiential storyline to life. Stay tuned to our corporate blog and social channels (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram) for more CES 2020 news from HARMAN.