Sennheiser Consumer presents strategic direction

As of December 1, 2022, Sennheiser Consumer will officially become part of Sonova Holding AG. On the occasion of this acquisition, the company has now outlined its future strategic direction. Under the Sennheiser Consumer brand, the Premium Headphones, Audiophile, Enhanced Hearing and Soundbars product areas will represent the four main pillars of the future product portfolio.

March 1, 2022 is an important date for Sennheiser Consumer Electronics. On this date, the acquisition agreed between Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG and Sonova Holding AG will come into effect. As a result, the Sennheiser Consumer Electronics product division will from now on be part of the Swiss company Sonova Holding AG.

On the occasion of this acquisition, which took effect on March 1, 2022, Sennheiser Consumer now presented its future strategic direction under Sonova Holding AG, stating that Sennheiser Consumer products will continue to stand for breathtaking audio experiences and continue the legacy of the Consumer division of Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG will continue at the highest level.

Sennheiser Consumer Electronics becomes Sennheiser Consumer

Probably the most important prerequisite for this is that the takeover should not result in any significant changes in the core business of the Consumer division of Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG’s core business is not to change significantly. Already on the occasion of the announcement of the takeovers, it was promised that the consumer electronics business would be completely transferred to the new owner Sonova Holding AG and that the employees would also be taken over in this context.

This also means that the brand name will in principle be retained, but Sennheiser Consumer Electronics will now simply become Sennheiser Consumer.

This is made possible by a perpetual license agreement between Sonova Holding AG and Sennheiser for the Sennheiser brand. Existing and new products in the consumer hearing sector will be marketed under this new brand name.

Four new product areas

Sennheiser Consumer’s product offering will be divided into four product areas in the future, namely Premium Headphones, Audiophile, Enhanced Hearing and Soundbars, according to the company.

These four product areas are considered important pillars for the future product portfolio, which is optimally aligned with the requirements of the market. As part of this, Sonova Consumer Hearing has announced a broad innovation portfolio that includes new products in all four categories, including new models in the premium headphones flagship Sennheiser Momentum series. In addition, investments in audiophile headphones will be doubled.

A rapidly growing market for hearables

The market for premium headphones is currently estimated at around 20 billion US dollars and is expected to grow threefold to around 60 billion US dollars in the next seven years, Sennheiser Consumer is convinced.

This development is also being driven by the changing connectivity of smartphones, which is seen as having considerable potential. To date, only 20 percent of all smartphone users have wireless headphones – a figure that will rise to 70 percent in the next seven years, according to Sennheiser Consumer.

As the Sennheiser brand, the company has made it its goal to decisively advance this development with its own premium wireless headphones. The expertise of Sonnova Holding AG is also expected to make a significant contribution.

The company explains that the technology behind true wireless headphones and hearing aids is increasingly merging. This is developing into a rapidly growing area for speech-optimized hearables. With the acquisition of Sennheiser’s consumer business, Sonova Holding AG is in a strong position to lead this market for years to come.

Sennheiser consumer products will continue to impress with exciting technological innovations – while remaining true to the established sound quality and the Sennheiser brand, which is appreciated by users around the world, Sonnova Holding AG said.

“Sennheiser and Sonova share the same vision and will therefore combine their complementary strengths for an even better overall package. Both brands stand for high-quality audio experiences where the idea of innovation is always at the forefront.”

Martin Grieder, GVP Consumer Hearing, Sennheiser Consumer

Getting to the point

Even as the acquisition of the consumer division of Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG by the Swiss company Sonnova Holding AG was announced, the new owner made it clear that the existing strategy and positioning of the product segment would not be shaken, but rather that existing strengths would be built upon, and the range would be expanded even further. What this will look like has now been revealed, and it is indeed clear that many exciting solutions can be expected from the new Sennheiser Consumer and its four product areas of Premium Headphones, Audiophile, Enhanced Hearing and Soundbars.