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 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.
