Sennheiser consumer sellout?

[makinao]

The pro side of me isn't worried. But should the consumer side of me be?

https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/16/...elling-consumer-headphones-soundbars-business

 

[Zensō]

The pro side of me isn't worried. But should the consumer side of me be?

https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/16/...elling-consumer-headphones-soundbars-business

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ooking-to-sell-consumer-audio-business.20441/

 

[Cahudson42]

But should the consumer side of me be?

Yes. The 'brothers' are essentially admitting they don't know how to manage the business - and don't want to. Rather than refocus and reinvent, they wish to 'move on'.. Might as well announce: "Here's a soon to be corpse..Come carve off a piece"

Seems almost criminal..An organization that some say makes the best headphone in the world:
https://crinacle.com/2020/11/19/sennheiser-he-1-review-59000-summit/

With Management that can't figure out how to run it..

 

[Zensō]

Yes. The 'brothers' are essentially admitting they don't know how to manage the business - and don't want to. Rather than refocus and reinvent, they wish to 'move on'.. Might as well announce: "Here's a soon to be corpse..Come carve off a piece"

And oddly, it’s looking as if Drop will be announcing a HD8XX this coming Thursday. Strange timing considering this announcement.

 

[Zensō]

Yes. The 'brothers' are essentially admitting they don't know how to manage the business - and don't want to. Rather than refocus and reinvent, they wish to 'move on'.. Might as well announce: "Here's a soon to be corpse..Come carve off a piece"

Seems almost criminal..An organization that some say makes the best headphone in the world:
https://crinacle.com/2020/11/19/sennheiser-he-1-review-59000-summit/

With Management that can't figure out how to run it..

You have to wonder if the writing was on the wall when Axel Grell left.

 

[JoachimStrobel]

All they are saying is, that they love the audio pro market and will serve that market happily, but are fed up with the amateurs and their taste for products, whose rational they do not understand.

 

[Tks]

And oddly, it’s looking as if Drop will be announcing a HD8XX this coming Thursday. Strange timing considering this announcement.

Really? This is great, any links?

EDIT: Just saw it, $1,100 with $200 drop credit, delivery set for November >_<

 

[Moonhead]

I find this worrying for the sennheiser headphone line, as HD800 is the best headphone and KH120 is the best speaker I ever listen to.

Apparently Axel is flying solo and might make more interesting products, time will tell.
http://grellaudio.com/

 

[Tortie]

And oddly, it’s looking as if Drop will be announcing a HD8XX this coming Thursday. Strange timing considering this announcement.

Drop is part of the problem. The HD6XX sales probably killed their margins on the HD650.

 

[Zensō]

Drop is part of the problem. The HD6XX sales probably killed their margins on the HD650.

Agreed, the 6XX (and to a lesser degree the 58X) killed sales of the 600, 650 and 660S. My favorite of the bunch is the 660S, but it’s hard to justify the price with the existence of the X models. People always complain about the price of the 660S and 650, but I doubt it would be a thing if the X models were either limited editions or priced closer to the originals.

 

[restorer-john]

Cut off the pesky consumer division altogether and concentrate on where the big bucks (and profits) are.

Don't know why they were thrashing it out in that sea of mediocrity for so long.

Sell it to Samsung, they can add it to all their 'harman' stable of brands. Or IAG. Trouble is, they'd get the name and could trash the reputation of the main brand in time.

 

[chris719]

Drop is part of the problem. The HD6XX sales probably killed their margins on the HD650.

I understand why it appears that way, but do we really think Sennheiser is dumb enough to sign on if they didn’t think it was going to improve their bottom line? Sales must have been poor enough they determined it was worth it.

 

[Tortie]

I understand why it appears that way, but do we really think Sennheiser is dumb enough to sign on if they didn’t think it was going to improve their bottom line? Sales must have been poor enough they determined it was worth it.

Well it would appear that they have not done a good job running the business. The past few years have been boom times for consumer audio headphones.

The problem with Drop is that the HD6XX not only hurts HD650 sales but also cannibalizes several other lines such as HD600, the newer HD660. The low price of the HD6XX and the HD58X likely encroached on their value segment that used to comprise the HD5x5 headphones made in China which probably had nice margins compared to the Irish made headphones.

Now they're commodifying their venerable HD800 with a lower priced clone at a time when parts and raw material costs are rising across the board. Seems like a mismananged company to me. The price cutting high volume strategy is not working otherwise they wouldn't be losing money.

 

[Tortie]

Agreed, the 6XX (and to a lesser degree the 58X) killed sales of the 600, 650 and 660S. My favorite of the bunch is the 660S, but it’s hard to justify the price with the existence of the X models. People always complain about the price of the 660S and 650, but I doubt it would be a thing if the X models were either limited editions or priced closer to the originals.

Yup. They cheapened the brand. Made it a commodity. Now their margins are crap. Other companies in other industries try to avoid this outcome, not embrace it.

 

[HiFidFan]

Tough to compete when your own manufacture rips off your design and builds it for much less.

I'm not shocked.

 

[Zensō]

I understand why it appears that way, but do we really think Sennheiser is dumb enough to sign on if they didn’t think it was going to improve their bottom line? Sales must have been poor enough they determined it was worth it.

I believe in the long run, their partnership with Drop will be seen as a major mistake.

 

[restorer-john]

I believe in the long run, their partnership with Drop will be seen as a major mistake.

I tend to agree. Are there any brands who have asscociated with that mob who have enhanced their position/brand/reputation/profit?

 

[Zensō]

I tend to agree. Are there any brands who have asscociated with that mob who have enhanced their position/brand/reputation/profit?

I’m thinking perhaps less well established brands benefit more than well known brands. Dan Clark Audio maybe?

 

[chris719]

Yup. They cheapened the brand. Made it a commodity. Now their margins are crap. Other companies in other industries try to avoid this outcome, not embrace it.

I doubt it. The HD6xx tooling was probably paid off in the early 90s. It must be extremely cheap to produce. I also doubt they ever derived significant revenue from these higher priced headphones. Their business was more likely eaten from below by Apple, Beats, Sony, gaming headsets, etc.

I think people here overestimate the market for expensive open headphones.

 

[Tortie]

Agreed, the 6XX (and to a lesser degree the 58X) killed sales of the 600, 650 and 660S. My favorite of the bunch is the 660S, but it’s hard to justify the price with the existence of the X models. People always complain about the price of the 660S and 650, but I doubt it would be a thing if the X models were either limited editions or priced closer to the originals.

Yup. They cheapened the brand. Made it a commodity. Now their margins are crap. Other companies in other industries try to avoid this outcome, not embrace it.

Agreed, the 6XX (and to a lesser degree the 58X) killed sales of the 600, 650 and 660S. My favorite of the bunch is the 660S, but it’s hard to justify the price with the existence of the X models. People always complain about the price of the 660S and 650, but I doubt it would be athing if the X models were either limited editions or priced closer to the originals.

This reminds me. The HD660 came out in late 2017. This was intended to be the successor to the HD650 which was released in 2003. That's a whopping 14 year gap!

Sennheiser simply fell asleep behind the wheel and didn't (and still doesn't) innovate. The HD800's introduction in 2009 only appealed to deep pocketed enthusiasts at the time. The HD700 was ab absolute flop. Sennheiser's Windows Vista to draw an analogy.

Even before the ill-fated decision to partner with Massdrop Sennheiser had already begun experimenting with sharp price drops for the HD650 and HD600 via Amazon. They did this because of their aforementioned failure to innovate allowed rival companies to surpass them in performance and popularity.

Opening the Drop sales channel was a final act of desperation. It probably helped slow the erosion in market share but failed to improve Sennheiser's financials.