China has more companies producing pianos than there are piano stores in the United States! The largest piano manufacturer in China is Pearl River. They have several factories and they just put a new factory online over a year ago that has 1.2 million square feet. Can you believe that? They produce hundreds of thousands of pianos (around 130,000 pianos last year). In contrast, last year, there were only about 1,200 pianos built in North America.
Think about this: China buys 15 times as many pianos as Americans do. Well, this isn’t too surprising when you consider that China buys more General Motors cars than Americans do also. But there is more to is. With pianos, their culture values pianos more than contemporary American culture does.
This is reflected not only by the number of pianos produced and sold there but in the enormity of the piano teaching business as well. In the U.S. there are around 6 million piano students. China has over 40 million piano students! You have to go back a hundred years in the United States for any kind of parallel. Back then, there were many hundreds of American companies producing pianos. The population was only around a hundred million compared to the 325 million people living here now. Yet, 10 times as many people bought pianos than they do today.
So that’s the long and short of it, the largest piano company in the world is the Chinese company Pearl River. This is Robert@LivingPianos.com 949-244-3729.
The Baldwin Piano Company has its roots in the 19th century and became the #1 selling piano in the United States in the 20th century. Dwight Hamilton Baldwin started the company as a retail store. In fact, they were a Steinway dealership! The story is that Steinway had a relative who wanted to open a store in Cincinnati where Baldwin operated. When Baldwin lost the franchise, they began producing pianos. Very soon they won prestigious international awards which catapulted them into the concert arena. During WWII Baldwin manufactured wooden bracing for aircraft. The technology they developed was utilized in the incredibly strong pin block design they employed in their pianos after the war.
Baldwin pianos went on to become a formidable force in the concert market with some of the most notable musicians of the 20th century and beyond choosing Baldwin pianos including: Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Earl Wild, Liberace, Dave Brubeck and Bruce Hornsby to name just a few. Baldwin acquired the great German piano manufacturer Bechstein in the 1960’s. Together they introduced the SD-10 concert grand piano in 1966 which was heralded as one of the great advancements in piano design in the 20th century. Eventually all the Baldwin grand pianos were redesigned with Bechstein.
Baldwin became a diverse financial multi-billion dollar company later in the 20th century. In 1984 they suffered a bankruptcy. The management team of Baldwin Piano Company bought Baldwin from the huge financial company and continued making top tier pianos. Eventually the competition of cheap Asian pianos took its toll and Baldwin suffered another bankruptcy in the early 2000s. Gibson guitar bought them and soon closed American operations. They bought 2 huge Chinese piano manufacturers and are importing pianos from them and putting the Baldwin name on them. However, word has it that the American factory is still operational. So, one day we may again enjoy new Baldwin pianos, some of the greatest pianos in the world being produced in the United States.
Chickering & Sons pianos are one of the oldest, American piano companies going back to 1823. In 1850, Henry Steinway attended a concert featuring performance on a Chickering grand piano. He was entranced by the experience and it provided inspiration to start Steinway & Sons pianos.
In the mid-1800’s Chickering was the largest piano manufacturer in the United States. There have been Chickering pianos in the White House. Abraham Lincoln owned a Chickering piano.
Technically, Chickering was responsible for developing the one-piece, cast iron plate which became a standard for all pianos up until this day. Unlike the vast majority of American piano companies, Chickering survived the advent of radio and the phonograph, the Great Depression, and WWII. However, the influx of cheap Asian pianos finally dealt a death blow to the esteemed, American company in the early 1980’s.
So much has transpired in the piano industry in the nearly 6 years since producing my, “Best Piano Brands” video, I thought it was due time to offer a fresh perspective on the industry.
In the first video I explained how countries of origin affect the quality of pianos. This is a simple truth – the longer period of time piano building is pursued in a country, the more mature the manufacturing and quality tends to be. But we are now living in a truly global marketplace. How has that affected the piano industry?
If you carry an iPhone in your pocket, you are enjoying a great product sold by the American company Apple. But the manufacturing is done in China. In fact, many of the components are sourced from other countries like Korea, Mongolia and even parts of Europe! This is not an outlier product – this is the way of the world in manufacturing today.
While there are some small, independent companies producing pianos in the old world tradition mostly in Europe, these tend to be manufacturers with very low output catering to a niche market. Most piano companies are not independent. Japanese piano maker Yamaha owns the Austrian piano company Bösendorfer. The Korean piano giant Samick owns Bechstein, Seiler and a sizeable chunk of Steinway!
Making matters even more complex, large piano companies often have operations in different countries. For example, a Yamaha and Kawai (both Japanese companies) have pianos manufactured in Indonesia.
Another factor is the plethora of “stencil pianos”. These are pianos marketed with familiar names of out of business companies or fictitious names stenciled on the fallboard. Many of these piano companies source the instruments from more than one manufacture. So, often times it’s all but impossible to figure out what company made the piano.
So, in today’s world, the vast number of pianos being produced are made in Asia. Last year there were only about 1400 pianos made in the United States mostly from Steinway. If money is no object, there are many fine piano companies out there from Fazioli in Italy to Mason & Hamlin outside of Boston. But for the vast majority of piano buyers, the short list of major piano companies includes 4 companies which include the two Japanese giants:
Yamaha
Kawai
Korean companies have been around since the mid 20th century. They come with different scale designs and price points just like Yamaha and Kawai and have very mature design and manufacturing:
Young Chang
Samick
The elephant in the room is the emergence of the Chinese piano industry. The largest Chinese piano manufacturer is Pearl River. But there are hundreds of companies now producing pianos in China.
The good news is that there are very few bad pianos sold in the United States. The secret is matching the right instrument for your needs. Ikea isn’t a bad furniture maker so long as your expectations are in alignment with what you are getting. Their products could serve the perfect purpose for you. So it is with pianos. Not everyone needs a piano that can play on a concert level to keep for generations.
Below is a list of hand-made pianos. All of these companies make a limited number of high end pianos. There is a range of quality to some of these manufacturers. However, the specific instrument as well as personal preference will determine which one is best for you:
Blüthner
Grotrian
Sauter
Steingraeber & Söhne
August Förster
Bechstein
Mason & Hamlin
Haessler
Schimmel
Steinway
Albert Weber
Shigeru Kawai
Fazioli
Petrof
Rönisch
S Series Yamaha
Schulze Pollmann
Wilh. Steinberg
Charles Walter
Stuart & Sons
Ravenscroft
Weinbach
The country of origin is often the best indicator of the quality of pianos. Since piano production began in Germany and the United States, these represent the very best piano brands.
The United States only has 3 manufacturers left although there used to be hundreds of piano companies building in America. Today we have only:
Steinway
Steinway makes about 2500 pianos a year
Mason & Hamlin
Mason & Hamlin builds only 250 pianos per year
Charles Walter
Charles Walter is a relative newcomer which builds only about 65 pianos each year.
The best European pianos come primarily from Germany:
Bechstein
Bluthner
Bosendorfer (from Austria)
Fazioli (from Italy)
The Eastern European pianos are not as refined but offer excellent value:
Petrof/Weinbach
(The same company produces both pianos.)
Estonia
Japan makes the best Asian production pianos. There are 2 companies which are the largest and second largest manufacturers of pianos in the world:
Yamaha
Kawai
Both companies have factories throughout Asia (not just in Japan) and the best pianos they build are made in Japan. They offer everything from budget instruments to hand-made pianos rivaling the best German and American pianos.
Korea has been making pianos for quite some time. While not as refined as the Japanese pianos, they continually improve. There are 2 Korean piano manufactures both of which have factories in other countries:
Samick
Young Chang
Samick sells pianos under many different brand names including Kohler and Campbell, Knabe, Sohmer, Pramberger, Remington and many more. These are referred to as “stencil pianos” since the original manufacturer is either out of business or it is a made up name. Young Chang sells pianos under the Weber name.
