Rio Audio closing up shop.

mzkhadir

Diamond Member
Mar 6, 2003
9,509
1
76
"In a press release today, D&M Holdings announced the end of the Rio brand. Rio had a troubled history, but were responsible for the first mass-market MP3 players as well as more recent popular players such as the Rio Karma. This closing follows the sale of Rio's IP to Sigmatel, maker of chipsets for many audio players, including the iPod Shuffle." From the release: "The company's decision to exit the Rio business followed a determination that the mass-market portable digital audio player market was not a strong enough strategic fit with the company's core and profitable premium consumer electronics brands to warrant additional investment in the category. The original goal of strategic advantage with wholly-owned and branded portable client devices was reconsidered in the context of the costs required to effectively scale and compete in this sector, where competition has grown intense. D&M Holdings will now focus all its resources on the core Premium AV business and advanced content server products."
 
Mar 19, 2003
18,289
2
71
I loved my Rio Carbon....for about 5 minutes until I cracked it open to get the 5GB microdrive out for use in my camera :D
 

Goosemaster

Lifer
Apr 10, 2001
48,775
3
81
"The company's decision to exit the Rio business followed a determination that the mass-market portable digital audio player market was not a strong enough strategic fit with the company's core and profitable premium consumer electronics brands to warrant additional investment in the category.

OMG LOFL...That is some of the best Bullsh!t I have ever heard

I nominate for bullsh!t of the year



:beer:Here, Here:beer:
 

ViRGE

Elite Member, Moderator Emeritus
Oct 9, 1999
31,516
167
106
Well there's an end of an era. Never mind the products(the Rio PMP300 wasn't great, but it was first and was good at what it did), when Rio was a Diamond MultiMedia(version 1) product, they went toe-to-toe with the RIAA in court over the legality of portable MP3 players and won in spite of some mind-boggling legal costs. They were pioneers, and while they never invented the eventual "it" product, it's a shame to see them go.
 

RbSX

Diamond Member
Jan 18, 2002
8,351
1
76
Originally posted by: mzkhadir
"In a press release today, D&M Holdings announced the end of the Rio brand. Rio had a troubled history, but were responsible for the first mass-market MP3 players as well as more recent popular players such as the Rio Karma. This closing follows the sale of Rio's IP to Sigmatel, maker of chipsets for many audio players, including the iPod Shuffle." From the release: "The company's decision to exit the Rio business followed a determination that the mass-market portable digital audio player market was not a strong enough strategic fit with the company's core and profitable premium consumer electronics brands to warrant additional investment in the category. The original goal of strategic advantage with wholly-owned and branded portable client devices was reconsidered in the context of the costs required to effectively scale and compete in this sector, where competition has grown intense. D&M Holdings will now focus all its resources on the core Premium AV business and advanced content server products."

I'm calling shens unless I see a link to the actual article.
 

loup garou

Lifer
Feb 17, 2000
35,132
1
81
Originally posted by: RyanSengara
Originally posted by: mzkhadir
"In a press release today, D&M Holdings announced the end of the Rio brand. Rio had a troubled history, but were responsible for the first mass-market MP3 players as well as more recent popular players such as the Rio Karma. This closing follows the sale of Rio's IP to Sigmatel, maker of chipsets for many audio players, including the iPod Shuffle." From the release: "The company's decision to exit the Rio business followed a determination that the mass-market portable digital audio player market was not a strong enough strategic fit with the company's core and profitable premium consumer electronics brands to warrant additional investment in the category. The original goal of strategic advantage with wholly-owned and branded portable client devices was reconsidered in the context of the costs required to effectively scale and compete in this sector, where competition has grown intense. D&M Holdings will now focus all its resources on the core Premium AV business and advanced content server products."

I'm calling shens unless I see a link to the actual article.

http://www.dm-holdings.com/eng/media/press/2005/20050826.html
:roll:
 

Doggiedog

Lifer
Aug 17, 2000
12,780
5
81
I guess no more support for my Rio Karma. I suppose if I have a problem with it again, I can always smash it on something solid to get it working.
 

GTaudiophile

Lifer
Oct 24, 2000
29,767
33
81
Originally posted by: SynthDude2001
I loved my Rio Carbon....for about 5 minutes until I cracked it open to get the 5GB microdrive out for use in my camera :D

ROFL!

I still enjoy my Rio! Cali 256. It's taken a few nasty spills but keeps on tickin!
 

klah

Diamond Member
Aug 13, 2002
7,070
1
0
Phew, for a second there I thought Kia might be discontinuing the Rio. //relief
 

Schadenfroh

Elite Member
Mar 8, 2003
38,416
4
0
Originally posted by: ViRGE
Well there's an end of an era. Never mind the products(the Rio PMP300 wasn't great, but it was first and was good at what it did), when Rio was a Diamond MultiMedia(version 1) product, they went toe-to-toe with the RIAA in court over the legality of portable MP3 players and won in spite of some mind-boggling legal costs. They were pioneers, and while they never invented the eventual "it" product, it's a shame to see them go.

RIAA suid over portable music players:confused:
 

mwmorph

Diamond Member
Dec 27, 2004
8,877
1
81
I own a Rio Karma, anda Toshiba Gigabeat f20, use many ipods and ipod minis, creative zen minis Iriver H10s and out of all of them, the old Karma is the best,. best EQ, best interface, best sound, best features(Gapless and OGG/FLAC w00t!).

I'm sad to see Rio go.
 

ErmanC

Senior member
Oct 25, 2001
439
0
0
Real news to me too... Bought a Rio Karma a few months back and it has worked great. Could have had a few more features like USB plug-and-play and DRM capabilities for the new music services, but as a simple harddrive player with a good deal of capacity, it was rock solid. Will hate to see them go.