After several months of rumors swirling around lackluster sales from a Japanese manufacturer of DJ equipment and digital mixers, the company filed for bankruptcy earlier this month. Vestax had been in trouble ever since it reportedly lost its United States distributer in October, and sales started to languish at home due to varying economic factors, including the rise in the Value Added Tax from 5 percent to 8 percent as part of Shinizo Abe's plan to generate government revenue and a recent dip back into recession. The company fell into debt of 900 million yen — $7.5 million — and was forced to file for bankruptcy, which makes it one of the 9,045 as of November 2014. Mixware, a U.S. representative and distributer for Vestax, has released a statement about bankruptcy and how there might actually be a light at the end of the tunnel via DJ Times:
The bankruptcy procedure was a necessary first step into the rebuilding of Vestax Japan and Vestax brand. Measures, engineering team, new product designs and financial support are already in place to support the rebuilding process and more information will be published by Vestax Japan during the course of the first semester 2015.
This process will definitely take some time before the first new Vestax products reach the worldwide markets but we're confident that once again under the leadership of its original founders, Vestax will soon re-emerge as a strong, innovative brand as it has always been.
Reading into the statement, Mixware is making the claim that Vestax is not going away but plans to use the bankruptcy to restructure its debt and come back even stronger in 2015, inspired by Donald Trump or Detroit.
We will see what happens in the future with Vestax and where it is able to get funding going forward to build out manufacturing centers, hire new employees and develop relationships with distributors around the world.
Stay tuned for more updates at the Vestax and Mixware websites.
