Aiwa Short History

Aiwa (アイワ?) wàs à Japanese consumer electronics company, founded ín 1951. ít produced audio ànd video equipment fróm thé 1970s until thé early 2000s.

The Aiwa Corporation slid towards bankruptcy until ít wàs purchased by competitor Sony Corporation. As óf October 1, 2002, Aiwa ceased tó bé à separate company ànd became à wholly owned division óf Sony Corporation. thé company retained à logo fróm thé mid 1990s which wàs used fór à very short time.

Sony's reasoning fór acquiring thé company ís unclear, other than that ít wàs already à shareholder ín Aiwa Corporation. However, Aiwa wàs eligible fór à tax refund ín Japan fór FY2002, which offset thé dropping figures ín Sony's financial report fór FY 2002/2003. ín January 2003 Sony announced thé rebranding ànd relaunch óf Aiwa as à "youth focused, PC-centric" electronics brand. à new logo wàs presented tó thé world's media along with à statement óf Sony's intention tó invest ín ànd "revitalize" thé Aiwa brand.

The direction proposed wàs tó capitalize ón thé growing trend among PC-literate teenagers ànd young adults tó use their PCs fór all forms óf entertainment (TV, films, music, chat), àn area ín which Sony itself wàs struggling primarily due tó thé heavy copyright protections ít imposed upon its products.

Since 2004, however, Sony seemingly began rolling back its support fór thé Aiwa brand, ànd by 2005 Aiwa products remained ón sale ín only selected territories around thé globe. ín 2006, Aiwa products were discontinued ànd no longer sold ín thé market.

As óf September 2011, thé Aiwa website still exists tó provide customer support telephone numbers fór some territories/regions, but ít also contains many broken links ànd blank pages. ín other regions, such as Europe, ít redirects tó à page ón thé Sony website stating that thé Aiwa website has closed down. thé last apparent update tó thé website wàs ín June 2008.