Onkyo files for bankruptcy: Hi-Fi expert is bankrupt

With a portfolio of AV receivers, hi-fi systems, speakers and much more, Onkyo is quite broadly positioned and a well-known name in the home theater segment. But Onkyo is bankrupt and has now had to file for bankruptcy at the Osaka District Court. The traditional company is thus facing the end.

Onkyo files for bankruptcy

The Onkyo Corporation, headquartered in Osaka, Japan, was founded as early as 1946 by Osaka Denki and initially manufactured tonearms for record players. Shortly thereafter, the first stereo systems followed, and over the years the company has become one of the biggest names in the home cinema and hi-fi segment.

In 2014, they even took over the majority of Pioneer’s home electronics division. Now, however, Onkyo is facing extinction. As the website Nikkei Asia reports, the company had to file for bankruptcy at the Osaka District Court on May 13, 2022. Total liabilities of about 3.1 billion yen (the equivalent of about 23 million euros) threaten to crush the company.

The manufacturer already sold its core audio equipment business to Sharp and U.S.-based Voxx International last year, and its headphone and earphone division went to an investment fund, according to the Nikkei report.

Onkyo bankruptcy: no measures helped

Due to financial deficits, Onkyo disappeared from the stock market as early as 2021. Shareholders agreed to pay shares to an investment fund in the Cayman Islands, which flushed 6.2 billion yen into the company’s coffers.

But even this measure was not to help the tradition-steeped company. At the end of the fiscal year in March 2022, further deficits led to a delisting from the Tokyo Stock Exchange. One had “explored every possible way to maintain the business, but could not settle our debts”, the company tells Nikkei Asia. Apparently, however, unfortunately without success.

That Onkyo is still to be saved after the bankruptcy is considered rather unlikely. Thus, the inglorious end of one of the most famous hi-fi manufacturers should be imminent. After a first bankruptcy filing in 2020, Onkyo presented its last, new AV receivers at CES 2021, which were developed together with Pioneer and reached the market in June 2021.