Onkyo reveals new identity, teases CES 2025 launches

Onkyo is embarking on a significant rebrand as part of a global reboot for the once dominant AVR manufacturer. With a wider focus on music, vinyl, and work-from-home creators, the company says it's optimistic that it can recover lost ground under new stewardship.

“While Onkyo is synonymous with home theater AV receivers today, our ambitions reach far beyond that. We’re excited to announce that we’re developing an entirely new range of products designed to cater to both everyday audio consumers and high-end, premium hi-fi listeners.”  

New products scheduled to be unveiled at CES 2025 include a new home speaker range, and 'a new electronic separate series'.

The brand’s history is fascinating. Onkyo founder Takeshi Godai started his journey in his family’s humble bicycle shop. Amid the oil-stained floors and tinkling of tools, Takeshi mastered the art of engineering, developing the skills to run a successful company.

At the time, the Godai family bicycle company employed a young entrepreneurial spirit, Konosuke Matsushita as an apprentice. In later years, Takeshi and Konosuke would cross paths again when Konosuke went on to build his own company, the Matsushita Electric Industrial Company (aka Panasonic). He hired his mentor’s son, Takeshi, who honed his skills and was eventually given charge of the speaker manufacturing factory.

A vision to forge his own legacy in a nation grappling with the aftermath of war drove him to start the Osaka Denki Onkyo Company in 1946. By the early 1970s, he had successfully improved Japanese craftsmanship, stimulated economic growth, and promoted post-war employment opportunities in a recovering nation. On the eve of its 25th anniversary, Takeshi gave his company a shorter name: Onkyo, meaning ‘sound harmony’ in Japanese.

During the Nineties, Onkyo was very much the go to brand for home cinema, but it faltered and fell from view in subsequent decades.

In 2021, Premium Audio Company and Voxx International Corporation acquired Onkyo Home Entertainment Company as its largest shareholder, investing in its research and development in Osaka with all engineers and manufacturing in place.

The all-new global Premium Audio Company Technology Center (PACTC) has been established in Osaka, Japan. Here a team of 59 dedicated Onkyo employees are busy forging a new path, with Sharp providing manufacturing support - and there’s a new brand identity too.

Going forward, expect to see more ‘Powered by Onkyo’ partnerships, as well as novel marketing collaborations. Onkyo was the official home audio system of Marvel Television’s Agatha All Along, now streaming on Disney+.

Technology partners announced include Dolby, dts, THX, HDMI, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, AirPlay®, Google Cast, Amazon Music, TIDAL, Deezer, Spotify, Pandora, Roon, Dirac, IMAX Enhanced, TuneIn, Works with SONOS, Qualcomm aptX HD, Savant, domotz, Elan, Crestron, AURO 3D, Over C Pro, Luxul ProWatch, URC, and Control 4.