Masimo Acquires Sound United - Are Denon, Classe, Polk, B&W, Marantz, going to fade away??


FOMO posted a yt that describes the overall financial overlay of the deal and why he thinks it may portend bad news for Audio and HT fans. In the near future, some very well known, iconic brands may no longer have the financial backing they've been able to enjoy up to now. Could this be the end of these brands as we know them? What do you think?

 

128x128ivan_nosnibor

on the other hand we might and up seeing Classe TV‘s and bluetooth speakers - who knows?

all brand names are there to be exploited - look at where Telefunken ended up

The buying public will decide what to buy - and what companies will disappear. That's the way the audio business has always been. Look what happened to Nakamichi and AR. Now reduced to "lifestyle" products!

When was the last time Denon had products that appealed to the enthusiast market, and conversely when was the last time the general consumer even knew who they were?

Well that's the case in Australia. Perhaps in the US or Europe they still have sales distribution, but here they are a distant memory. Marantz is far better positioned as a brand to survive.

The history of unrelated acquisitions isn't great so there probably will be some casualties from this. Most likely, over time some of the business will be deemed to be non core and sold off again.

I am no Harvard or Stanford MBA but I fail to see the business rationale for the acquisition by Masimo, a medical technology company, of Sound United, a pure play consumer audio and video entertainment umbrella of companies. I hope I am wrong but Masimo may just want to "milk" Sound United’s cash flow as implied in the video above ? I am worried but the Marantz brand has had its ups and downs over the decades... B&W also has very strong brand recognition and I am confident it, along with Marantz, will be able to survive post Masimo.