Dual Brand Gains

Heathrow, Fla. — One of the recent success stories in autosound is the revived Dual brand, from Dual Electronics, a subsidiary of Namsung America. Dual claims it has achieved a top 10 market share in all of its key mobile audio segment after 18 months.

NPD Techworld, Port Washington, N.Y., confirmed that for August, Dual was No. 8 in market share for unit sales of in-dash CD and No. 9 in speakers.

Jim Braun, Dual's president and CEO, said, “We know there's a downturn in the industry, but with our Korean parent, Namsung, we've made the required investment to become a major player. Our business from this year over last has grown four times and we introduced well over 30 new products, with over 100 total. We've significantly increased our staff. The market is telling us that our formula is working.”

Now claiming sales in the “nine figures” for both home and car products, with the bulk of sales in 12-volt, Dual puts its distribution base at 10,000 outlets. The company said its formula is to leverage its prime source manufacturing capabilities.

“When you look at the mobile electronics market a year ago or more, there was a lot of space in the market after the major players, which was handled by companies who were mainly distributors for third party factories. We've been able to get a lot of that position by being a prime source manufacturer,” added Braun.

The company has introduced a number of cutting-edge products including the first CD receiver with a built-in smart cable for compatibility with XM Direct tuners and a new 20GB navigation system.