JBL Speakers can be found almost anywhere – from today’s portable stereos to powering the acoustics at the 1969 Woodstock festival. They produce a wide variety of stereo products for both personal and commercial use.
The company was founded in 1946 by engineer and designer James B. Lansing. Prior to establishing JBL, Lansing worked with a partner to create the Lansing Manufacturing Company, which produced speakers and radio consoles starting in 1927. It all began in Los Angeles, California, and the JBL headquarters is still there today.
JBL is a subsidiary of Harman International, an audio electronics company headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. The owner of both brands is a name that should ring a bell: Samsung Electronics. Samsung, the world’s second-largest tech company, is based in South Korea.
A family tree with such long branches warranted a bit more investigation. Although the company is owned in South Korea, could JBL Speakers be made here in America? We decided to find out.
Verdict: Are JBL Speakers Made in the USA?
No, JBL speakers are not made in the USA. JBL speakers are manufactured in China, but the company makes some individual components and accessories in the US.
Browsing through the JBL product categories, I see nothing about the country of origin. This includes everything from portable speakers, home audio, headphones/earbuds, gaming, car and marine products, and professional audio gear.
We hopped on a chat to ask some direct questions. The bot put us in contact with the Harman Customer Support team. Here is the response to our initial inquiry.
Firstly, it really shouldn’t matter why we want this information. Aren’t we entitled to know something so basic about the products we invest in? It isn’t the first time we’ve been questioned about our intentions by a brand. Maybe they’re worried we’re trying to steal their manufacturer and start our own brand.
We did eventually get a reply:
Designed in the USA and assembled in China…but what part is missing from this answer? “Manufactured in…” Unfortunately, we got disconnected with the rep right after this. But we did a bit of image searching to find out more.
Here is a label saying “made in China.”
And another label saying manufacturing is done by ShenZhen HENZENS Technology Co:
Here are some loudspeaker accessories from JBL made in China:
Most of what we could find stated “Made in China” on the label, which wasn’t surprising considering the rep’s quick answer. However, we did find a few “Made in USA” labeled items.
Another:
A search for “Made in USA” on the JBL website does yield 14 products. However, these product pages still lack telling information about manufacturing.
We received a semi-helpful follow-up email from the customer service representative we spoke to earlier:
From our search, we’ve come to learn that some JBL products and parts are manufactured here in the USA. Those products we found stating “Made in USA” were no longer available from JBL themselves, indicating that they are older models. According to the customer rep, everything is assembled in China, even if some parts are first made here in the USA.
So, is anything JBL manufactured in America today? Sadly, the answer seems to be “no.”
Popular American Made JBL Speakers
- Some older models and individual parts, but no current product listings could be found.
Popular JBL Speakers Not Made in the USA
- JBL Flip 6
- JBL Go 4
- JBL Authentics 200
