Boomboxes and compact stereos now are ubiquitous products, Sanyo a prestigious brand name and Sanyo-Fisher a prominent consumer electronics company. All are ubiquitous because of Howard Ladd.
Born in Providence, R.I., Ladd’s family moved to Philadelphia in 1931. Graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in 1942 after studying electrical engineering, and taking courses at Wharton School of Business in accounting and business management, he joined the U.S. Navy with a commission as an ensign. During the war, Ladd designed radio-controlled target drone aircraft while working at the Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia, and participated in the invasion of Okinawa.
After being released from active duty in 1946, Ladd was active in various business ventures before becoming sales and marketing manager in 1957 for the American Concertone line of $1000-plus professional level reel-to-reel audio tape recorders. After hearing that a company called Superscope was importing and selling lower-priced Sony tape recorders in the U.S., and after his own company decided to focus on high-end products, Ladd formed Concord Electronics in 1959 and designed a line of $100 to $500 tape recorders to be sold in the U.S. under the Concord brand name.
Within six years, Concord had broadened its product line to include a new product category, a portable, battery-operated tape recorder that was priced at a mere $29.95. Other innovative products Ladd and Concord introduced included a reel-to-reel recorder with a built-in AM/FM radio, the world’s first cassette audio tape deck, one of the first stereo cassette boom boxes and all-in-one stereo compact music systems.
When Concord merged with another company in 1969, Ladd accepted an offer from Sanyo to start and operate a Sanyo brand distribution and marketing company in the U.S., based in Los Angeles. At the time, Sanyo’s product line consisted of just three color TVs, which Ladd, as executive vice president and COO, expanded to include stereo music systems, car stereo equipment, portable tape recorders and an expanded television line.
In 1975, Ladd initiated a process to acquire Fisher Radio, which at the time was owned by Emerson, and in turn had bought the company from its founder, Avery Fisher. Once the acquisition was completed, Ladd became president of the new Fisher Corp., which sold primarily high fidelity audio receivers, compact stereo music systems and speakers manufactured in Pennsylvania. Ladd led an expansion of the Fisher line to include an integrated amplifier/tuner/tape deck/turntable/speaker system, cosmetically matched one-brand and racked audio component systems, as well as portable stereo products, stereo televisions and the newly-developed wireless remote-controlled VCR. Within less than ten years, Fisher annual sales grew from $30 million to nearly $1 billion. As Fisher’s growth continued, Ladd went on to become the chairman and president of Fisher Corp.
When Sanyo Electric and Fisher Corp. merged to become the Sanyo Fisher (USA) Corp., Ladd retired in 1988, but the retirement didn’t last long. With some associates and friends, Ladd started a bank in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Century City and served as vice chairman and chairman of the board for 10 years before retiring for good.