The Chinese city of Shenzhen is famous not only for the large number of manufacturing enterprises where the vast majority of electronic goods are assembled. Since 2010, the HARMAN design and development center also operates here. This year, for the first time, journalists had the opportunity to penetrate this center and see how the works of acoustic art from the legendary company are created.
The Shenzhen Center is a truly international team, which employs talented employees from various countries around the world, including Russia. In a huge office that has grown so large that it is preparing for expansion, new products are being designed, prototypes are being created, and new products are being actively tested. At the heart of the design, a creative and truly informal atmosphere reigns, allowing employees to most effectively reveal their talents, creating quality products.
By the way, about the products: at the moment HARMAN is ready to offer customers premium audio equipment at prices ranging from affordable to super-expensive. After a series of profitable acquisitions today, the HARMAN portfolio consists of more than 15 brands, including: JBL, AKG, Harman Kardon, Infinity, Lexicon and Mark Levinson. Recently, the manufacturer of sports headphones YurBuds also joined this family, and there is no doubt that we will see the fruits of this acquisition soon.
Dez Power, senior vice president and general director of the strategic business division of home and multimedia products at HARMAN International, told us that in the near future the company plans to strengthen its positions in those areas where they are already strong, and also continue to conquer segments that will be subjugated just to be.
The JBL brand, which needs no introduction from Russian buyers, will continue to update its consumer product line. Charge, Micro, Synchros, Pulse - all these successful products are preparing for updates, which will be officially presented at the IFA exhibition in September.
Perhaps the most radical redesign has touched AKG products - one of the oldest brands of the HARMAN family. Under the direction of the young designer Rafal Chaniecki, the products of this brand will receive a new look and will appeal to a younger audience.
One of the hottest trends in recent years - portable speakers. So it turns out that such a concept as a docking station is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. The idea of connecting your smartphone or tablet to a desktop audio system through a loss of mobility connector was unsuccessful, and there was a need to find a more attractive replacement. Judging by last year’s sales figures, the HARMAN rate for portable speakers turned out to be correct - people liked the idea of taking a compact speaker out of town or on a bike ride, to which you can connect via a wireless connection to listen to your favorite music with friends and family. And if this gadget also your iPhone can charge - then there is no price for it. At the same time, the company believes that portable music is not only the lot of young outdoor enthusiasts. The Harman Kardon line demonstrates that more respectable ladies and gentlemen also need such an accessory. I did not ignore the fashion trend and brand Infinity, which is known to most of our customers with high-quality speakers for cars. With the participation of Linkin Park, the company has developed a portable Infinity One speaker, which has an incredible sound for such a small case.
During our visit, Richard Metcalf, Director of Multimedia Products Marketing at HARMAN, gave an excursion for journalists, during which we learned about the process of creating these products. After the design department has completed the preparation of sketches and the appearance of the device is being prepared, the work goes to the engineers who need to understand whether it is possible to realize the ideas of designers who are sometimes too daring and do not take into account the realities of our world.
After the prototype is ready, it passes many tests, and not only on the sound quality. Mechanical and thermal effects are factors that can cause serious damage to acoustics, so these aspects are also included in the tests.
The final stage of the test is to listen to the products by people who are called 18 “golden ears”. 18 people from different departments of HARMAN take turns listening to a new product and an equivalent from a competing company. Of course, they are not told when a particular product sounds, therefore such a “tasting” of sound can hardly be reproached with bias. If the novelty does not pass the test - it is sent for revision.
Having visited the international design center HARMAN, we saw several products that will either be presented only in a month or are still at an early stage of testing. For this reason, we cannot talk about them. The only thing we can share is that HARMAN is preparing really promising products for release - both in the usual directions for themselves and in new and unexplored segments. You can learn more about our visit to the HARMAN design center from the short film we prepared.
The article is based on materials .
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