Gibson Brands Inc, a US maker of musical instruments and audio equipment, has appointed SiS Distribution (Thailand) to distribute Philips audiovisual products in the country.
Gibson recently bought Woox Innovations, an audio, video, multimedia and equipment business unit under Dutch conglomerate Royal Philips NV, which has recently shifted its focus to the healthcare business.
Under the purchase terms, Gibson paid US$135 million for Woox Innovations together with the Philips brand licence fee for seven years.
Jason Chang, head of audiovisual business at Woox Innovations Singapore Pte, a subsidiary of Gibson Brands, said the company would sell Philips audio and home entertainment products in Southeast Asia via two channels — company-owned investment and local distributors.
“Thailand is one of our focus markets. We see a lot of Philips sound bar products here, while the Thai TV business is more advanced in this region, with rising demand for flat-screen TVs,” he said.
Mr Chang said sound bars played a big role in home cinema entertainment in Europe, and Asean would follow this lifestyle trend soon.
A sound bar is a special loudspeaker enclosure that creates a reasonable stereo effect from a single cabinet, ensuring highquality sound when watching TV.
Somchai Sittichaisrichart, managing director of SiS Distribution (Thailand), said the penetration rate of sound bar systems went along with new TV products at 10-20%, and the advent of digital TV would help to boost demand for new audio products.
SiS expects sales of 18 billion baht this year, on a par with last year.