JBL was founded in 1946 by James Bullough Lansing, an American audio engineer and loudspeaker designer. After his contract with Altec Lansing expired, he established Lansing Sound, later renamed James B. Lansing Sound and shortened to JBL Sound. The company quickly gained recognition with their first products, the D101 15-inch loudspeaker and D175 high-frequency driver. In 1969, JBL was acquired by Harman International, which was later purchased by Samsung Electronics in 2017. Today, JBL operates two independent divisions: JBL Consumer (home market) and JBL Professional (studio, installed sound, tour sound, portable sound, and cinema markets). Their current product portfolio includes portable speakers, headphones, earbuds, gaming gear, home audio speakers, pro audio equipment, and car/marine audio. JBL equipment is used in approximately 40% of the world's motion-picture theaters.