Let’s bring some actual truth to this world of lies:
Over half of Sennheiser’s business is made up of their Consumer products, about 52%.
In 2019, they saw a 6.5% increase in sales overall, amounting to €756 million, that’s $913 million USD.
2020 has been hard for every company in the world. We’re in an economic recession, that’s to be suspected. Jobs are being lost, companies are rethinking business strategies.
With what’s going on, it would be CATASTROPHICALLY STUPID for Sennheiser to pull out of the consumer market entirely due to a little shake up from Covid-19. That would be like cutting half their fucking business apart. It would be very smart for them to seek partnership to help develop their Consumer line up to grow it.
Conjecture:
I think it’s safe to say with Covid-19 bringing an increase in consumer spending in lue of going out due to people staying at home more often, many consumer businesses aren’t bleeding as much as we think.
Sennheiser has been on the rise in the Consumer market, especially in Asia where they’ve seen the greatest rise of over 10%. It would be worthwhile for Senn to find a Chinese company to partner with to open up new business strategies.
And no, this doesn’t mean companies like Hifiman would be an open candidate. Most likely some investment company that no one has ever heard of will take the offer and use their connections to develop marketing strategies.
The fact is, major corporations often use partnerships in certain sectors while retaining their ownership to help grow these sectors.
One case is like that of Fostex, who were focused on producing audio equipment and parts for other makers (Apple earbuds, I believe, have Fostex-manufactured drivers in them). They saw the consumer market growing, so they pitched their own hand into the mix. Now Fostex has invested in their consumer line up with partnerships and manufacturing to create a wider consumer appeal. You can even say partnerships like Fostex and Dekoni opened up new avenues–Dekoni created the product, Fostex manufactures it.