Razer Acquires Majority Of THX Ltd Assets
by Brett Howse on October 18, 2016 12:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Accessories
- Audio
- Razer
- THX
Today, Razer acquired the majority of the assets of THX, including the management and employees of THX. THX will continue to operate as an independent subsidiary of Razer, under its own management. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
This is a bit of an interesting acquisition by Razer, a company that focuses quite heavily on the PC gaming market, from systems, to accessories. THX is an audio company founded in 1983 by George Lucas, and for the past thirty-three years, they have focused on cinema audio systems, home audio systems, and audio certification.
THX will continue to focus on its three main areas of business. The Certification business is one that they are likely most known for, and the THX logo on a piece of equipment means that the equipment has been tested and passed a set of criteria determined by THX, and over the years that certification has expanded outwards to more devices, and more levels of certification. THX Live! Is a second area of the company, where they focus on providing the best possible audio experience at large venues, as well as replicating that kind of experience in the home. THX Inside focuses the technologies inside of equipment.
One big change from this announcement is that THX is going to now offer additional certification lines for headphones, Bluetooth speakers, streaming video, set-top boxes, and connected speakers. It’s pretty easy to see the Razer influence here, since Razer is a peripheral maker of many of these devices, so it would be pretty easy to see this collaboration in the future. A THX certified set of Razer Man’O’War 7.1 headphones would certainly be a great place to start, and any assistance by the audio engineers at THX to make the product better will be a good result. Razer also offers not only headphones, but also computer speakers like the Leviathan, which also offer Bluetooth connectivity, and they even have a streaming system in the Forge TV, so the advantages to Razer to own an audio engineering company seem pretty solid. THX has also been dabbling in VR, and Razer is a major sponsor of the OSVR kit.
The advantage to THX is of course better funding. Razer has been very successful as a brand, and an infusion of funding will enhance their efforts.
Although this is not an acquisition most people would have foreseen, there are some nice advantages to both parties on this. The THX brand has been diluted a bit over the years, so if anything it would be great if an infusion of funds from Razer would help stabilize this, and reciprocation of solid audio engineering for Razers products definitely seems like a win for them. I’m looking forward to seeing the improvements the two companies can make together on the products I use.
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ciparis - Tuesday, October 18, 2016 - link
A vendor cannot own a qualifying entity without affecting the relevance & intrinsic authority of the qualifying entity. This is the sad end of an era.eek2121 - Tuesday, October 18, 2016 - link
IMO THX lost it's relevance a long time ago anyway. I haven't seen a THX logo in quite a while. Also, Razer is officially dead to me. My cheap $20 chinese keyboard has now outlasted the combined lifespans of 2 high end Razer keyboards...with more functionality to boot. Get back to me when a drop of water doesn't wipe out a $200 Razer keyboard or when they realize that left handed gaming doesn't mean reversed buttons.close - Tuesday, October 18, 2016 - link
I doubt they paid this much just to get a sticker on their products. Most people just don't care about that sticker enough to pay for the whole investment. Which is why THX was in this position in the first place. I hope they bought them for the expertise.Now they are able to build a better product and command a higher premium than just for a THX sticker.
nathanddrews - Tuesday, October 18, 2016 - link
Razer bought THX to get in on Chinese cinema - a market that is currently exploding and has much more room to grow. THX stands to make a lot of money certifying commercial theaters in China, so this seems like a savvy business move from that perspective alone. I wish that I had thought of it.Aside from that, I expect that the THX logo will continue to be abused on entry level garbage just like it always has.
yannigr2 - Tuesday, October 18, 2016 - link
If journalists around the world in technical sites, notice that THX label is tailored for Razer equipment, they will quickly throw the THX logo in the nearest trash can. If Razer bought expertize and they are serious to create top quality equipment, it is a good investment. If they just bought a logo that they don't intent to respect, their investment will be short lived.TheITS - Tuesday, October 18, 2016 - link
LOLOL Razer serious about creating top quality!!!That is the funniest thing I may have ever heard online!
yannigr2 - Tuesday, October 18, 2016 - link
Are they really that bad? I really don't know them as a company, not I haven't heard them, I just haven't bought any stuff from them.close - Tuesday, October 18, 2016 - link
They're not. Most people are actually happy with the products but there's always going to be a number of users who are unhappy (maybe the product they bought had serous problems, maybe it didn't match their expectations) and they decide to be very vocal about it.Razer products have around 4 out of 5 stars average rating for almost every product on every top retailer. Which is equal or better than other big manufacturers.
But everyone knows that any company that disappoints a few of its customers is a sh*t company, with sh*t products.
@TheITS, what brand do you buy and consider good?
LordanSS - Tuesday, October 18, 2016 - link
I like their mice, mostly for ergonomics and the fact they suit my usual grip well. I also have one Nostromo gaming keypad, but I use it for the macros. Can be very handy.I dislike their Razer Synapse program as it requires internet connectivity when setting it up, creating a Razer account, etc, which for me is beyond stupid. After that setup I can leave Synapse offline forever. If you like the functionality it saves your macros to their cloud, but at least for me that's gimmicky.
fanofanand - Tuesday, October 18, 2016 - link
Razer software = garbage. Razer keyboards = garbage. Razer mice = holy grail. There will be those that disagree with me, especially about their mice, but I stand by my personal experience. I have had several razer products and the software has never lived up to the hype. The Razer mouse I bought is the single greatest computer accessory I have ever owned. I have used it for several years and it still works as well as the day I bought it. Your milage may vary.