News

Sound United Finds a New Home with Harman

Mark Henninger  |  May 7, 2025

Masimo Corporation has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its Masimo Consumer Audio division, which is made up of the former Sound United hi-fi brands, to Harman International, a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, for $350 million in cash. Pending regulatory approvals, the transaction is expected to close by the end of 2025. The sale transfers an extensive portfolio—including Bowers & Wilkins, Denon, Marantz, Polk Audio, Definitive Technology, Classé, and Boston Acoustics—to a buyer with business firmly rooted in audio. (The fate of the HEOS multiroom streaming platform remains unclear.) Harman already owns JBL, Harman Kardon, AKG, Mark Levinson, Revel, Arcam, and Roon.

HEOS was rumored to be the main motivation for Masimo’s acquisition of Sound United, since it would give Masimo a solid wireless foundation for its consumer products. Harman mentioned HEOS in its press release; Masimo did not. However, it would be close to impossible to execute the sale without its inclusion, due to its integration in multiple Sound United brands. HEOS is integral to the wireless functionality of many products within in the Sound United ecosystem.

The mismatch became a rallying point for activist fund Politan Capital, which secured board seats and urged Masimo to divest. By late 2024, the audio business had been carved out as a standalone unit, and Masimo openly sought buyers. Although rumors circulated of offers nearer the original purchase price, months passed without a deal until Harman stepped in.

For Harman, the acquisition fills significant gaps in its home-audio lineup. Denon and Marantz provide scale in AV receivers, Polk Audio and Definitive Technology strengthen the mass-market speaker segment, and HEOS brings a mature, whole-home streaming platform that can integrate with Samsung televisions and connected appliances (and perhaps dovetail with Roon). The move also aligns Bowers & Wilkins’ high-performance loudspeakers with a company steeped in audio heritage and backed by Samsung’s resources.

The combined roster presents challenges as well as opportunities. Harman must prevent overlap among four AVR lines—Denon, Marantz, JBL, and Arcam—while preserving Bowers & Wilkins’ audiophile cachet and positioning Polk to compete in the crowded loudspeaker, soundbar and smart speaker arenas. Yet the strategic logic is far clearer than Masimo’s ill-fated experiment: Every brand involved now answers to a parent singularly focused on audio innovation and consumer-electronics integration.

If regulators approve the transaction, it will close a turbulent three-year chapter that saw Sound United’s valuation tumble from more than a billion dollars to a third of that figure. Masimo exits with a costly but decisive return to its healthcare roots, while Harman and Samsung gain a powerful array of brands poised to strengthen their position in living-room entertainment from big-screen TVs to whole-home audio.

COMMENTS
zipzimzap's picture
Submitted by zipzimzap on May 7, 2025 - 6:08am

They sold it for 35% of what they paid, losing $675,000,000 and their stock price never recovered from the purchase.

zipzimzap's picture
Submitted by zipzimzap on May 7, 2025 - 6:11am

While having one company own everything is rarely good for consumers this at least is better than them going away.

Anton's picture
Submitted by Anton on May 7, 2025 - 8:48am

Think of it, all those R&D costs simply written off - it's not like the new company incurred those costs, and at that purchase price, no need to recoup, right? Think of the lower prices with this new entity no longer factoring all those past development costs into the bottom line.

JBL L100 speakers will fly off the sales floors at their new, lower prices.

This should make things much more affordable, like when cell companies merge.

Halcyon Days, for sure.

music or sound's picture
Submitted by music or sound on May 9, 2025 - 10:31am

I very much doubt that the aggregation of brands will lead to more extensive R&D and cheaper manufacturing except moving to China - oops that doesn't work anymore.
In general there is very little innovation in the audio sector except on digital/DSP front and a lot of these come from smaller companies. There was a lot of research done by Harmon but I have not heard anything new from them recently.
Brands which competed are now under one ownership and that does not lead to cheaper products. At least for high end pricing is depending on status and not production cost.

mns3dhm's picture
Submitted by mns3dhm on May 7, 2025 - 10:08am

This is a good outcome for these brands. Owners of components made by the acquired companies have some assurance of ongoing service and Samsung certainly has the resources to develop and support new products and possible synergies with existing Harman technologies.

cognoscente's picture
Submitted by cognoscente on May 8, 2025 - 2:40am

The point is, and let's face it, consumers don't buy audio equipment anymore. Yes, those few so-called audiophiles here including me, who listen to the sound in addition to music (and are willing to pay for better sound) but most, the mass consumers don't. They use the soundbar of their TV or a mono Sonos, JBL or one of those talk-to-boxes from Apple or Amazon. Official government figures from consumer budget researchers have also shown this for years. In the seventies and eighties (especially the seventies) families spent a substantial part of their income on audio equipment. Everyone did that then, at least most of the middle class. Now, and since the nineties, that same middle class prefers to go on holiday more often or eat out. You see the same development in fashion. And now I'm talking about North American countries, (Western) European countries, Australia and New Zealand. In the entry-level and middle segment audio equipment, where large numbers were sold in the seventies and eighties, that is no longer the case. In that segment, with its limited margins, there is simply no longer enough to earn because the numbers are so small nowadays. That is why many brands are fleeing to unrealistic, read too high, priced audio equipment. The top segment where the margins are enormous (because the numbers are so small and the prices are therefore no longer in proportion to the quality). Moreover, with the aging population, audiophiles are a dying breed. In about 20 years, they will hardly be around anymore. The motto in audio is therefore, earn as much as possible now that you still can, soon the party will be over! Because being an audiophile is mainly a hobby of old white men. So, do not invest in audio anymore (as an investor), it is running on its last strength and is showing its last convulsions. Unfortunately, we have to conclude this, just as it is unfortunately that we will all die one day (or is that for the better? as a philosophical question and given some world leaders at this time, all old men, do you notice that too?).

zipzimzap's picture
Submitted by zipzimzap on May 8, 2025 - 6:11am

Back in the 70s and 80s, how many 'little' high end companies were there? It seems like now there is an almost endless number of companies trying to carve out their little part of the market. Was it like that back then too?

Due to the small production numbers and often higher prices, these boutique brands enjoy a feeling of exclusivity that mainstream brands just can't offer.

There is also the issue that a fair amount of people have ditched the traditional companies products for the new 'cheaper' direct from China ones. In the end they still spend a decent amount of money, they just keep replacing their current setup with the latest, so called, inexpensive 'flavor of the week', rather than buying once and keeping it for 30 years. They have a pretty strong following of people that enjoy bragging rights on the price to performance ratio.

Both the high and the low end of the market enjoy the advantage of online influencers that rave about their products and their either high or low prices. This gives them instant and massive exposure, that could only be dreamed of a few decades back.

We end up with a higher end that is getting more crowded by the day with boutique brands and a lower end of the market that is filled with direct from China products; that are continually moving up the price scale.

Once, having a Marantz receiver and B&W speakers meant you were really into audio. Now there are two large groups of enthusiasts that would scoff at that setup. At the one end they would look down on it for not being fancy enough and the other they would look down on it for costing too much.

So companies like these face an ever shrinking share of an already shrinking market of people that are into traditional audio setups.

cognoscente's picture
Submitted by cognoscente on May 8, 2025 - 8:14am

I have had the strong impression for a while now that it is just a hobby/passing time for rich retired audiophiles with enough money and time who start a high-end brand. Nothing against it, but in order to earn back some of the invested budget, they charge disproportionately large margins, because the sales numbers are so small (due to increasing competition and decreasing numbers of audiophiles due to mortality). My motto is therefore to only buy equipment from one of the big players who has been in the industry for a long time with a reasonable r&d department and still sells some numbers, otherwise the quality-price ratio is completely out of balance.

Btw there are really very good full Chinese audio brands (investors/owners, developers and production all full Chinese I mean). That is also the reality of the audio industry. Designed in the USA or GB or DE etc. and made in China (only) has already been overtaken by them.

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