 | |
 Yamaha Corporation's headquarters inHamamatsu, Japan | |
Native name | ヤマハ株式会社 (Japanese) |
|---|---|
Romanized name | Yamaha kabushiki gaisha |
| Formerly | Nippon Gakki Co., Ltd. (1887–1987) |
| Company type | Public |
| |
| Founded | October 12, 1887 (138 years ago) (1887-10-12) |
| Founder | Torakusu Yamaha |
| Headquarters | 10-1, Nakazawacho, Naka-ku, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka ,Japan |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Takuya Nakata [jp] (president and Representative Executive Officer) |
| Products | Musical instruments,audio equipment |
| Revenue |  ¥408.2 billion (2017)[1] |
| ¥44.3 billion (2017)[verification needed][1] | |
| ¥46.7 billion (2017)[verification needed][1] | |
Number of employees | 28,112 (including temporary employees) (2017)[1] |
| Subsidiaries | List
|
| Website | yamaha.com |
| Footnotes / references [3][2] | |
Yamaha Corporation (ヤマハ株式会社,YamahaKabushiki gaisha;/ˈjɑːməhɑː/;Japanese pronunciation:[jamaha]) is a Japanese multinational musical instrument and audio equipment manufacturer.
It is one of the constituents ofNikkei 225 and is the world's largest musical instrument manufacturing company.[4]
The formermotorcycle division was established in 1955 asYamaha Motor Co., Ltd., which started as an affiliated company but has been spun-off as its own independent company.
Nippon Gakki Co., Ltd. (日本楽器製造株式会社,Nihon Gakki SeizōKabushiki gaisha;lit. 'Japan Musical Instrument Manufacture') was established in 1887 as areed organ manufacturer byTorakusu Yamaha (山葉寅楠) inHamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, and was incorporated on 12 October 1897. In 1900, the company manufactured the first piano to be made in Japan,[5] and its first grand piano two years later. In 1987, 100 years after the first reed organ built by Yamaha, the company was renamed Yamaha Corporation in honor of its founder.[6] The company's origins as amusical instrumentmanufacturer are still reflected today in the group's logo—a trio of interlockingtuning forks.[7][5]
AfterWorld War II, company presidentGenichi Kawakami repurposed the remains of the company's war-time production machinery and the company's expertise in metallurgical technologies to the manufacture ofmotorcycles.The YA-1 (AKA Akatombo, the "Red Dragonfly"), of which 125 were built in the first year of production (1954), was named in honour of the founder. It was a 125cc, singlecylinder, two-stroke street bike patterned after the GermanDKW RT 125 (which the British munitions firm,BSA, had also copied in the post-war era and manufactured as theBantam andHarley-Davidson as theHummer). In 1955,[8] the success of the YA-1 resulted in the founding ofYamaha Motor Co., Ltd., splitting the motorcycle division from the company. Also, in 1954 theYamaha Music School was founded.[5]
Yamaha has grown into the world's largest manufacturer of musical instruments (including pianos,"silent" pianos,drums,guitars,brass instruments,woodwinds,violins,violas,cellos, andvibraphones), and a leading manufacturer ofsemiconductors,audio/visual, computer-related products, sporting goods,home appliances, specialtymetals, andindustrial robots.[9] Yamaha released theYamaha CS-80 in 1977.
In 1983, Yamaha made the first commercially successful digital synthesizer, theYamaha DX7.
In 1988, Yamaha shipped the world's firstCD recorder.[10] Yamaha purchasedSequential Circuits in 1988.[11] It bought a majority stake (51%) of competitorKorg in 1987, which was bought out by Korg in 1993.[12]
In the late 1990s, Yamaha released a series of portable battery operated keyboards under the PSS and the PSR range of keyboards. The Yamaha PSS-14 and PSS-15 keyboards were upgrades to the Yamaha PSS-7 with short demo songs, short selectable phrases, and sound effects.[13]
In 2002, Yamaha closed itsarchery product business that was started in 1959. Six archers in five differentOlympic Games won gold medals using their products.[14]
In January 2005, it acquired German audio software manufacturerSteinberg fromPinnacle Systems. In July 2007, Yamaha bought out the minority shareholding of the Kemble family in Yamaha-Kemble Music (UK) Ltd, Yamaha's UK import and musical instrument and professional audio equipment sales division. It was renamed Yamaha Music U.K. Ltd in late 2007.[15] Kemble & Co. Ltd, the UK piano sales & manufacturing arm, was unaffected.[16]
On 20 December 2007, Yamaha made an agreement with the Austrian BankBAWAG PSK Gruppe to purchase all the shares ofBösendorfer,[17] with Yamaha intending to continue manufacturing at the Bösendorfer facilities in Austria.[18] The acquisition was announced on 28 January 2008, after theNAMM Show in Los Angeles. As of 1 February 2008, Bösendorfer Klavierfabrik GmbH operates as a subsidiary of Yamaha Corporation.[19]
Yamaha electronics have proven to be successful, popular, and respected products. For example, theYamaha YPG-625 was awarded "Keyboard of the Year" and "Product of the Year" in 2007 fromThe Music and Sound Retailer magazine.[20] Other noteworthy Yamaha electronics include theSHS-10 Keytar, a consumer-priced keytar which offered MIDI output features normally found on much more expensive keyboards.
Yamaha is segmented into three primary business domains of musical instruments, audio equipment, and others (industrial machinery and components, etc.)[21]
The company began by manufacturing high-end furniture based on its expertise in wood processing for piano manufacturing, and was spun off into a separate company in 1991 with the establishment of YAMAHA Livingtec (YLT). The company manufactured and soldunit baths,system kitchens, and other products. In 1992, the company decided to stop selling system furniture, and after narrowing down its product lineup, it terminated orders and production in March 2005.[22]
In 2010, Yamaha sold its 85.1% stake in YLT toJapan Industrial Partners and three foreign investment funds as part of a restructuring. At this point, the YAMAHA brand and company name continued, but the company essentially withdrew from management. Subsequently, YLT conducted aMBO of the investments of Yamaha and the investment funds, and the company name was changed as of 1 October 2013[23][24] and withdrew from the housing equipment business in both name and reality.
Other companies in the Yamaha Corporation group include:[2]
Kandō (感動) is a Japanese word used by Yamaha Corporation to describe its corporate mission.Kandō is the sensation of profound excitement and gratification derived from experiencing supreme quality and performance.[25] Some reasonable English equivalents are "emotionally touching" or "emotionally moving".
Yamaha Corporation is widely known for its music teaching program that began in 1954. In a continuation of that program, the Yamaha Music Foundation was established by the authority of the Japanese Ministry of Education for the purpose of promoting music education and music popularization In 1966.[26]
Yamaha expanded into many diverse businesses and product groups. The first venture into each major category is listed below.[27]
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Yamaha announced the singing synthesizerVocaloid for the first time at theGerman fairMusikmesse on 5–9 March 2003.[28]
Yamaha began the sale and production of Vocaloid applications, starting with Lily which was later sold viaInternet Co., Ltd.'s website. Their involvement continued with the VY series, with VY1 being the first, released in deluxe and standard editions on 1 September 2010.[29] The VY series is a series designed to be a high quality product for professional musicians. The series is also designed with the intention to set a new standard for the Vocaloids for having no face, sex, or set voice, but are designed to complete any song.[30] VY1 has a new approach to how the software handled the database of samples and improved the performance of the Vocaloid 2 engine.
Yamaha announced a version of the Vocaloid 2 software for theiPhone andiPad, which exhibited at the Y2 Autumn 2010 Digital Content Expo in Japan.[31][32] Later, this version of the software was released using the VY1 voice.[33][34] VY2 was also released for this version of the software.[35]
In Japan, the company maintains three factories for musical instrument manufacture, engine and various vehicle manufacture (motorcycles and marine products), with all factories located inShizuoka Prefecture.
1989-1999 In 1988, Yamaha bought the rights and assets of SCI, and these rights included the employment contracts of many of the company's development team, including Dave Smith himself. … Then, in 1989, the team moved to Korg, where they designed the now-classic Wavestations. …
1987 … However, in 1987, the relationship took another huge step forward when Yamaha bought a controlling interest in Korg Inc, effectively making it a subsidiary."; "1993 … Thanks to the products developed using the funds from Yamaha's cash injection in 1987, the previous five years had been very successful, and Tsutomu Katoh now had some cash at his disposal. In fact, he had enough to buy out the majority of Yamaha's share in Korg. So he did.
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