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Sennheiser looking to sell consumer audio business

Beershaun

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threni

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They're looking for a "strong partner to invest in" them, "to build greater independence for its business units"? Not really independent if they're looking for a large amount of external money. Guess they're in trouble?

From the pdf:

"Our world is in a constant state of change. We must align ourselves with ever-changing challenges and realities. We are all feeling this now more than ever. But it also means that new possibilities, opportunities and ideas for the future are continuously emerging. For Sennheiser, this means that we must continue to develop and adapt. As a family business, we have to be agile and flexible and make decisions for the future. This is part of our entrepreneurial responsibility. We strongly believe that all business units will emerge strengthened from the planned repositioning. With a partner at our side that invests in our Consumer business, we will be even better equipped to play to our strengths and to continue bringing the benefit of these strengths to our customers. Sennheiser has stood for excellent technology and unique audio experiences for over 75 years. We will continue to do so in the future."

I don't know about you but if I received this as an email I'd be polishing up my CV.

Also: https://en-de.sennheiser.com/newsroom/sennheiser-presents-2019-results-and-announces-job-cuts
 

MakeMineVinyl

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Kind of a word salad which seems to boil down to 'they are loosing money'.
 

Cahudson42

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Sounds like if you are thinking of getting a particular Senn, now is the time.

One of the first things to go in these situations is QC..both incoming components and outgoing product. The easiest/quickest way to cut without immediate effect.

Also typical is pushing suppliers for extended terms, additional discounts, or simply delaying Accounts Payable - all of which hit back on component quality as well..
 
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Koeitje

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Makes sense, more money can be made in pro-audio. Consumer audio is just a drive to the bottom for the bulk of sales.
 
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Beershaun

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This sounds like code for "we are looking for someone else to buy this part"
"we are concentrating our own resources on the three business areas in the Professional division and are looking for a strong partner to invest in our Consumer business,"
 

pozz

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I'd buy it if I had the money:cool:
 

meh_shrugs

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Some of their headphones (e.g., 280Pro, and 200Pro) show up under Pro Audio products on their website. Anyone have a sense of whether all headphones fall under "Consumer" or if that refers to a subsection (e.g., Momentum, PXC, etc)?

It's weird that they are having trouble marketing in the consumer segment, yet their headphone lines are an explosion of random numbers.
 

AnalogSteph

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Up to 650 out of 2800 is quite a lot. Then again, 2020 must have been a bad year for them. Retail stores remained closed, so they sold fewer headphones. No concerts, so live equipment rental is down substantially. And they don't have money to throw around like Apple does either.
It's weird that they are having trouble marketing in the consumer segment, yet their headphone lines are an explosion of random numbers.
Sennheiser's headphone marketing has long been rather... peculiar. I haven't been able to make too much sense of it in the last 2 decades or so. The Massdrop headphone models may have done the most for their brand recognition in recent times, but those weren't exactly high margin. Somehow, in spite of being a Big Name they also sort of kept a low profile.

What made me a fan back in the day was their strong focus on solid engineering and user experience (comfort). They can still do it, but e.g. HD5xx series driver quality has rather decreased over the years.
 
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