Xandrie SA describes the recently announced acquisition of e-onkyo music as an acceleration of its growth strategy in Asia. With this acquisition, the parent company of Qobuz takes over the hi-res audio download platform from the Japanese electronics manufacturer Onkyo Corporation.
Xandrie SA, the parent company of Qobuz, is continuing its expansion in Asia. It has now announced the acquisition of the hi-res download provider e-onkyo music from Onkyo Corporation.
The company calls this an important strategic step for Qobuz to continue its international expansion.
Development of an international offering
Qobuz sees itself as a pioneer for high-quality sound and has been offering a rich range of content for download as well as streaming from a wide variety of genres such as jazz, classical music, classic rock, electronic music, etc. since 2007. The offer is supplemented by articles, interviews and album reviews and is said to comprise more than 70 million titles and almost half a million editorial contents.
For some time now, Xandie SA, the parent company of the French provider Qobuz, has been trying to gain a foothold in new markets. The market entry in the USA, for example, came as a surprise, and now, as mentioned above, the company is continuing its expansion in the Asian market, whereby the acquisition of e-onkyo music is to be an important strategic step.
Qobuz continues international growth strategy in Asia
The acquisition of e-onkyo music, a Japanese platform for downloading music in high sound quality, is said to be a key strategic step for Qobuz to continue its international expansion.
It follows the launch of Qobuz in the Nordic countries – Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland – as well as Australia and New Zealand in April this year. The company said it is currently looking into entering other markets and plans to do so in the coming months.
For Onkyo Corporation, which now wants to concentrate on its core business, the sale of the music download platform e-onkyo music is said to be part of a restructuring plan. As part of this plan, Onkyo Corporate has transferred the assets of e-onkyo music to the new company Xandrie Japan Co. Ltd. As a result, Xandrie SA holds 85.1 per cent of the shares of Xandrie Japan Co. Ltd. and Onkyo Corporation holds 14.9 per cent.
Development of an international high-end offering
For Qobuz, the acquisition of e-onkyo music is expected to be an opportunity to expand its range of high-definition references and enrich its catalogue with local content specifically for the Asian market, but also with a view to expanding its international offering across all platforms to include innovative music genres such as J-Pop.
“Thanks to the acquisition of e-onkyo music, Qobuz has taken a new step in its international development and is successfully pursuing its growth ambitions in the Asian market. This merger will enable Qobuz to offer a high-quality and diverse music offering as well as the most comprehensive high-resolution download service on the market. In the long term, Qobuz also intends to quickly launch a streaming offering in Japan.” Georges Fornay, CEO of Qobuz
Getting to the point
All signs point to expansion at Xandrie SA, with the Asian market now being the main focus. The takeover of the download offer of e-onkoy music, which has now taken place, is said to be an important strategic step. With this acquisition, Xandrie SA not only takes over the most important Japanese provider, but can also profit from its special genre mix on an international level.
| Manufacturer: | Qobuz |
