Businessweek

Steinway Musical Instruments, Inc., through its wholly owned subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, marketing, and distribution of musical instruments in the United States and internationally. Segments The company operates in two segments, Pianos, and Band & Orchestral Instruments. Piano The Pianos segment offers pianos under Steinway & Sons, Boston, and Essex brands. Steinway & Sons Pianos: The company offers two premium-priced product lines under the Steinway & Sons brand, grand pianos and upright pianos. The smaller grands are sold to both individual and institutional customers, while the concert grands are sold primarily to institutions. Steinway & Sons also offers art case pianos designed by either Steinway master craftsmen or artisans. The company’s upright pianos are intended to satisfy the needs of institutions and other customers who are constrained by space limitations. It also provides services, such as repair, replacement part sales, tuning and rental of pianos, and restoration. Restoration services range from repairs of minor damage to complete restorations of vintage pianos. Boston and Essex Pianos: In the mid-priced category, the company offers its Boston and Essex lines. Band & Orchestral Instruments The Band & Orchestral Instruments segment produces band & orchestral instruments and offers a line of brass, woodwind, percussion, and string instruments. Woodwind and Brass Instruments: The company manufactures piccolos, flutes, clarinets, oboes, bassoons, trumpets, French horns, tubas, and trombones in its manufacturing facilities in Indiana and Ohio. The company sells student-level instruments in three distinct product groupings: ‘good’ entry-level imported instruments, ‘better’ mid-priced instruments, which are either imported or manufactured by the company, and ‘best’ instruments, the majority of which are manufactured by the company. In addition, the company manufactures intermediate and professional-level woodwind and brass instruments. The company sells its woodwind and brass products under the Bach, Selmer, Selmer Paris, C.G. Conn, Leblanc, King, Armstrong, Holton, Yanagisawa, Vito, Emerson, Avanti, Noblet, and Benge brand names. The company customizes the products that it sells to professional musicians so that the product meets requested design specifications or has certain sound characteristics. The company is the U.S. distributor for Yanagisawa saxophones and Selmer Paris saxophones and clarinets. The Selmer Paris saxophone is a professional saxophone. Percussion Instruments: The company manufactures, sources, and distributes acoustical and tuned percussion instruments, including outfit drums, marching drums, concert drums, marimbas, xylophones, vibraphones, orchestra bells, and chimes. The company manufactures percussion products in North Carolina and Illinois under the Ludwig and Musser brand names. String Instruments: The company distributes violins, violas, cellos, and basses. Products are sold under the brand names Glaesel, Scherl & Roth, and William Lewis & Son. Accessories: The company manufactures mouthpieces and distribute accessories, such as music stands, batons, mallets, straps, mutes, reeds, pads, chin rests, strings, bows, cases, and instrument care products. Customers Piano: The company's majority of piano sales are to individuals, including both professional artists and amateur pianists. It also sells pianos to institutions, such as concert halls, universities, music schools, houses of worship, hotels, and retirement homes. The All-Steinway School program targets music schools, conservatories, and universities. The company sells its pianos in the United States, Germany, Austria, France, Switzerland, Belgium, China, Japan, and the United Kingdom. Band & Orchestral Instruments: This segment’s products are sold to students, amateur and professional musicians, and institutions. The majority of its instruments are purchased or rented from dealers by students enrolled in music education programs in the United States. It also sells to amateur or professional musicians or performing groups, including orchestras and symphonies. The company sells its band products in the Americas, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region. Competition The company’s Steinway pianos compete with brands sold by Bösendorfer and Fazioli. It also competes with domestic and Asian manufacturers of musical instruments, including Jupiter and Yamaha. History Steinway Musical Instruments, Inc., formerly known as Selmer Industries, Inc., was founded in 1993.