We read the signs of a dying Vestax Corporation a few months ago in an article – and now it has been officially confirmed in Japanese media. The Tokyo-based hardware manufacturer of DJ gear has declared bankruptcy.
Teikoku Databank, an Japanese online credit research company, reported that Vestax started bankruptcy proceedings on December 5th in Tokyo District Court, having gone into debt for 900 million yen (about $7.5 million USD). The main reasons cited for the debt seem to include (based on Google translated text):
- low-cost Chinese-made goods sold by competitors
- slump in exports due to the strong Yen
- the recent 2014 Japanese recession
- stagnation of the entertainment market as a result of the 2011 earthquake in Japan
On the main home page of Vestax Europe, there’s just a simple classic logo. Vestax’s main web presences have disappeared or becoming completely inactive (in the case of almost every social media account).
Valuable Asset: Who’s Buying?
The question on a lot of DJs minds is clear – who will snatch up the company, brand, product lines, and supply chains? The company absolutely has value, even if its current financial state is a mess.
Vestax was behind some of the most important elements of modern DJing – from incredible turntablism mixers to some of the first digital DJ controllers (that helped spawn controllerism and DJ Techtools). We can think of a few potential buyers who might want a piece of the action:
- Pioneer DJ: The now-independent DJ division of Pioneer has a lot of mobility – mainly because they’re owned and backed by a major investment company we’ve speculated might be willing to inject cash into the company to make it even more of a powerful brand. Owning a secondary brand isn’t something that Pioneer has done before, but considering they’ve killed off their low-end gear (specifically mixers – an area where Vestax has always done well), this could be an interesting option for them.
- InMusic (Numark, Denon, Akai, M-Audio): This is the obvious choice, only because we know that InMusic has historically been willing to grab up powerful brands that might not be doing so well financially. Folding the company into the InMusic family could be a good choice – but then again, does InMusic really need more brands?
What do you think should/will happen to the Vestax brand now that the company is bankrupt? Let us know in the comments below.
