Koss Corporation
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This article's lead section may not adequately summarize key points of its contents. (August 2010) |
| Type | Public company |
|---|---|
| Traded as | KOSS |
| Industry | Electronics |
| Founded | 1953 |
| Headquarters | Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Website | koss.com |
Koss Corporation is an American company that designs and manufactures headphones.
Contents |
History [edit]
John C Koss founded the J.C. Koss Hospital Television Rental Company in 1953. After a short time Koss was looking for new ideas, and partnered with Martin Lange to eventually develop a stereo headphone. Based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, in 1991 Koss Audio & Video Electronics started producing and selling consumer electronics products as a separate company in Hazelwood, Missouri, USA. The Koss family owns more than 75% of the firm.
Having only a high-school education, John C Koss worked with Lange, an engineer, to develop the headphone that launched the company almost by accident, as they came upon the headphone idea as a result of an attempt to market a portable phonograph.[1]
Diversification into related electronics areas in the 1980s ended in disaster for Koss, who filed for bankruptcy protection after a net loss in 1984 of $6 million. Koss emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in 1985.[1]
In 1991 Michael J Koss, son of founder John C Koss, took over as president and chief executive officer.
In December 2009, former vice president of finance Sujata "Sue" Sachdeva was charged in federal court with wire fraud after the firm discovered her embezzlement of $34 million during a five-year period during which the company's average net income was $6 million. Sachdeva was later sentenced to 11 years in federal prison.[2] Allegedly, as much as $2 million of the missing funds were used to purchase clothing and other luxury items that were stored unused, often with the tags still attached. Ultimately, Koss was forced to restate five years of financials.
Products [edit]
In addition to selling headphones under their own brand, Koss headphones are also rebranded as Radio Shack headphones under license and sold in Radio Shack stores. They will usually have the same drivers as the Koss phones, and these can usually be spotted by the fact that the minijack connector has the Koss logo on it. Radio Shack sells them as Titanium Diaphragm headphones. Some of their more popular products are the Koss Plug and Koss Spark Plug which are noise isolation earphones. Their ability to be adapted to take the high-end Etymotic ear tip (known as the Koss Hybrid), and the popular Koss Porta Pro has contributed to their success. Their budget-priced headphones (the KSC series in particular) are widely regarded as some of the best low-end headphones on the market.[3] As of 1989, all headphones manufactured in North America by KOSS come with a limited lifetime warranty, which covers normal use by the initial user or purchaser.[4]
Notes [edit]
- ^ a b Barrier, Michael (1990). "Life after near-death - Koss Corp. near bankruptcy". Nation's Business.
- ^ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40245372/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/t/ex-koss-exec-gets-years-million-embezzlement/. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ^ Koss KSC 75 @ HeadRoom - Right Between Your Ears
- ^ Koss Headphones Limited Lifetime Warranty.
References [edit]
- Bednarek, David I., 'Koss Corp. May Be Suffering from Wall Street's Low Interest,' Milwaukee Journal, September 1, 1991.
External links [edit]
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