Media Players: Panasonic Acquires Hive

After the investor deal with financial services company Orix fell through, Panasonic announced that it would continue to pursue its new Mevix strategy. Now the company has unexpectedly unveiled another building block in its ProAV strategy: Panasonic Projector & Display Corporation has acquired 100 percent of the outstanding shares of British AV technology company Hive Media Control.

Hive is best known for its media player and control technologies, which are widely used in the events and broadcasting sectors. Hive’s flagship Beeblade platform is based on the Intel Smart Display Module (SDM) standard and enables direct integration with projectors, LED screens, and displays.

Hive to Remain an Independent Company

According to Panasonic, Hive will continue to operate as an independent company with a vendor-neutral market approach. Panasonic says it intends to “support its growth.”

With the acquisition, Panasonic is taking another step forward in its Mevix strategy. While the company had previously focused on positioning itself as a technology-independent hardware manufacturer – spanning LCD, LED, and projection – it now appears to be evolving further into a ProAV ecosystem provider.

“Under Mevix, our visual solutions brand, we have been clearly articulating our commitment to contribute to customers across the total workflow, not just at the hardware endpoint. This acquisition is a major step in that direction and an important step forward in growth guided by the spirit of the Mevix brand,” commented Yousuke Adachi, CEO of Panasonic Projector & Display Corporation.

Strong in Immersive Installations

Panasonic sees particular potential for Hive’s solutions in immersive attractions, museums, themed environments, and other permanent visual installations. In this area, Hive has built a strong position by combining SDM-native architecture with an open ecosystem design.

Panasonic says it will announce details regarding the specific impact on its product portfolio at a later date.