Founded at the beginning of 1980 in Saint Etienne, Focal-JMlab started life in a small workshop, within a precision engineering firm. The fledgling company had a workforce of just two people including the current Chairman and CEO Jacques MAHUL, a trained engineer and specialist in drive units.
The first drive units developed in this workshop quickly won international acclaim thanks to the originality of their design. At the same time as it was producing drive units under the Focal brand (specially designed for the most famous brands of speakers and for top-of-the-range kit enthusiasts), the company also launched its own range of loudspeakers under the JMlab brand.
JMlab quickly made a name for itself with original designs in the field of small bookshelf speakers, including the famous dual voice coil midbass DB13 which had the remarkable characteristic of offering sound quality comparable to much larger models.
An active development policy aimed at constantly adapting the company’s products to market requirements, coupled with an audio “style” skilfully combining musicality and dynamic performance has enabled JMlab to achieve leadership within the French loudspeakers market.
In 2004, JMlab had a market share of 15% (sales value) for loudspeakers in France.
At the same time, exports have gradually grown within Europe, North America and Southeast Asia, with these areas experiencing strong growth in recent years thanks
to an increasing awareness of the Focal brand firstly, followed by JMlab, and supported by a number of awards.
As a result, the JMlab Vega model was voted “speaker of the year 1992” in Japan, something of a scoop for a French product.
In 1996, the Grande Utopia model was extensively praised by the international press and is considered as one of the best systems currently on the market. 2003, the Grande Utopia Beryllium creates a new standard.
In 1997, a vehicle integrally equipped with Focal drive units won the world final of the IASCA competition in the expert category. Our skills in the field of onboard sound have helped us to take the top prize each year since then.
In 2001, a French car won the final in the Pro category… a real “first” on American soil! 2002, Focal strengthens its leading position by winning first place in the expert category at the IASCA world finals.
In 2002, the home audio line, now divided into four series, brought a reference solution from entry level to hi-end. In the space of four years, with an annual growth of 25%, the company doubled its turnover; its future clearly moved from the national market to the global market.
In 2003, the new Grande Utopia Beryllium set a new standard. The “Golden Sound” obtained in Japan conferred upon it the status of world reference.
In 2004, the Home Audio line launched an additional “lifestyle” series, called Sib & Co, which was intended for consumers in search of integration solutions. The iCub, designed for new digital sources, was an “amplifiersubwoofer”. Nova Utopia was chosen as product of the year by the American magazine Stereophile.
Also in 2004, the Car Audio line grew to include the Utopia Beryllium series, with three kits of two and three way designs, all equipped with the famous Beryllium tweeter and innovative crossovers.
The Pro Audio line offered two product series: SM8 and SM11. These models were equipped with Beryllium tweeters and W “sandwich” cones. Each series offered two channel and multi-channel options with subwoofer. These models possessed digital inputs and onboard DSP providing additional functionality.
At that point, export represented 66% of turnover.
Furthermore, a streamlining strategy of our two brands was undertaken in 2002. At that time, speakers were to be branded Focal-Jmlab, and by 2004, only as Focal.
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