HARMAN Announces Strategic Collaboration with SoftBank, Sprint, Trikomsel and Brightstar

HARMAN Ships First Million Units of the Exclusive Harman Kardon Onyx Studio Bluetooth Speaker

The Harman Kardon® Onyx Studio™ Bluetooth portable speaker delivers rich and realistic four-channel sound and includes a rechargeable lithium ion battery with up to five hours of playing time. (Photo: Business Wire)

Mobile World Congress 2014

BARCELONA, Spain--()--HARMAN International Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HAR), the premium global audio and infotainment group, announced today that it has entered into a strategic collaboration with Softbank (Japan), Sprint (U.S.A), Trikomsel (Indonesia), and Brightstar worldwide. Under the agreement, partners will exclusively sell the newly designed Harman Kardon® Onyx Studio™ portable Bluetooth wireless speaker to their customers globally.

“These select agreements with SoftBank, Sprint Trikomsel and Brightstar expands the reach of HARMAN products and the Harman Kardon brand in key global markets and advances our mission to provide the best in sound whenever, wherever people want to access their music,” said Dinesh Paliwal, Chairman, President, and CEO of HARMAN. “We are excited to grow our relationship with these telecommunications leaders and proud that the custom designed Harman Kardon® Onyx Studio™ will be among the core products they offer their mobile customers around the world.”

The Harman Kardon® Onyx Studio™ features include award-winning design blended with best-in-class acoustics to deliver outstanding room-sized sound from any compatible hand-held device. The compact, free-standing speaker system incorporates four powered drivers and two passive radiator cones for rich and realistic four-channel sound. The unit connects wirelessly to any Bluetooth® enabled mobile phone or similar hand-held device, and has a rechargeable lithium ion battery that allows up to five hours of playing time without the need for external power. For further information and specifications about the Harman Kardon® Onyx Studio™ please visit www.harmankardon.com/onyxstudio.

The Harman Kardon® Onyx Studio™ Bluetooth portable speaker will be available beginning February 25, 2014 through SoftBank, Sprint, Trikomsel and Brightstar, via cross product promotional activities through the Mobility channel or by purchasing the product as a standalone from $399 MSRP.

About Harman

HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets – supported by 15 leading brands, including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon® and Mark Levinson®. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of 14,800 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $4.7 billion for the last twelve months ended December 31, 2013. The Company’s shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol NYSE:HAR.

About The SoftBank Group

The SoftBank Group comprises of the pure holding company SoftBank Corp. (TSE:9984) and its more than 1,300 subsidiaries and affiliates that offer a comprehensive range of mobile communications, fixed-line communications and Internet services. With Sprint joining in July 2013, the SoftBank Group became a leading global carrier with close to 100 million subscribers. Maximizing synergies across its Group companies worldwide, SoftBank aspires to realize lifestyle innovation through IT. The SoftBank Group is also encouraging the adoption of clean and safe energy through its business activities. To learn more, please visit http://www.softbank.jp/en/corp/.

About Sprint

Sprint (NYSE: S) offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint served more than 55 million customers at the end of 2013 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; leading prepaid brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. The American Customer Satisfaction Index rated Sprint as the most improved company in customer satisfaction, across all 47 industries, during the last five years. Sprint has been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DSJI) North America in 2011, 2012 and 2013. You can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com or www.facebook.com/sprint and www.twitter.com/sprint.

About Trikomsel

PT Trikomsel OkeTbk. (“Trikomsel”) is the leading telecommunication products distributor and retailer in Indonesia via its branded retail chains “Okeshop” and “Global Teleshop.” It has more than 1,000 owned retail outlets spread in 175 cities across the 33 provinces in Indonesia, and a network of more than 15,000 independent retailers. Trikomsel’s shares are traded on the Indonesia Stock Exchange under the symbol TRIO.

About Brightstar

Brightstar is the world’s largest specialized wireless distributor and a leading provider of diversified services focused on enhancing the performance and results of the key participants in the wireless device value chain: manufacturers, operators and retailers. For more information, please visit http://www.brightstarcorp.com.

Contacts

HARMAN
Darrin Shewchuk, Director, Corporate Communications, +1 203.328.3500
darrin.shewchuk@harman.com

Release Summary

HARMAN announced a strategic collaboration with Softbank (Japan), Sprint (U.S.), Trikomsel (Indonesia) and Brightstar worldwide to exclusively sell the Harman Kardon® Onyx Studio portable speaker.

Contacts

HARMAN
Darrin Shewchuk, Director, Corporate Communications, +1 203.328.3500
darrin.shewchuk@harman.com