Many musical instrument markets around the world are familiar with Dynatone products, though a fall smaller number know the name. One of Asia’s most successful OEM producers of electronic pianos, Dynatone is out to change all that, boldly putting its brand front and center and calling on retailers everywhere to experience the highest-value instruments the company has ever made. The new company slogan proclaims, “It’s all about the music.”

Founded in 1987, Dynatone was first established as the Electronic Musical Instruments (EMI) division of Korea Electronics Company. Korea’s first producer of electric musical instruments, Dynatone has since become a leading producer of electronic pianos, constantly improving its product line with modern, sophisticated designs and building strong worldwide exports.

After joining KEC in a low-level position, Jinyoung Lee rose through the ranks to become head of EMI in 1997 and CEO when Dynatone, previously a brand name, became a corporate entity in 2000. (Dynatone separated from KEC that year.)

Today Dynatone benefits from Korea’s abundance of well-trained engineers, designers, and marketing specialists. Its 55 employees work in a modern manufacturing facility that earned QS 9000 (quality) and ISO 14001 (environmental) certifications. Marketing and sales are conducted at the company’s headquarters in Seoul, while all product development and most manufacturing take place at its dedicated factory and R&D office in Gyeongbuk-do, Korea.

Dynatone is responding to disparate world market needs with products that compete on both features and price. It recently targeted the exploding Chinese market with a line of entry-level instruments, and primarily for Western markets it introduced high-quality instruments intended to compete with acoustic pianos. The Dynatone line includes grand and upright style pianos with polished cabinets, uprights with satin finish cabinets, slim-cabinet pianos for space-conscious consumers, and stage pianos. The new SGP-500 and SDP-500 polished cabinet models feature a high-fidelity 50W + 50W amplifier, 128-note polyphony, and the new Advanced Real Hammer Action keyboard. The new VGP-3000 player grand piano features the ROS V.4 sound engine, 88 Real Hammer Action keyboard, a powerful 50W + 50W sound system with six speakers, 80 auto-accompaniment rhythm styles, SD memory card, 4'8" (142cm) high-polished grand piano cabinet, backlit LCD display, and remote control.

Mr. Lee invests in a variety of cutting-edge technology to make world-class instruments. The company employs state-of-the-art design and diagnostic equipment to produce instruments suitable for the world’s most demanding markets. For example, its auto velocity/note tester ensures reliability of key action.

In 2012 Dynatone was Korea’s top-selling electronic piano. The Korean market represents more than 80% of Dynatone’s total sales, and the domestic market is improving. Exports remain stable despite challenged economies, especially in Europe, where Dynatone’s products have long been particularly strong. Since 1998 Dynatone has been exporting its products to more than 30 countries around the world, and exports continue to grow at a rate upwards of 20% per year. Now focusing on promoting the Dynatone brand, the company plans to reduce OEM activity, currently accounting for 38% of its sales, to 20% by 2015.

“Our overseas market share for digital pianos is about 3%,” reports Mr. Lee. “Our goal is to increase that by 10%. In order to achieve it, we plan to introduce the Dynatone brand in the U.S. market, where our products have been well known, but by another brand name.

www.dynatone.biz

Subscribe to The Music Trades today!

NEXT PROFILE>>