Samsung acquired Harman back in 2017, which gave it control over popular audio gear brands such as Harman Kardon, AKG, Bang & Olufsen, JBL and many others. These brands make headphones, home audio equipment and car audio, which Samsung has a vested interest in. Now Samsung is expanding its domain as its Harman subsidiary is set to acquire Masimo’s Sound United.
In recent years, Sound United had acquired the likes of Denon, Bowers & Wilkins, Boston Acoustics and others. Boston Acoustics is behind the OEM sound equipment for a lot of popular car models.
Older Galaxy Buds had “Sound by AKG” labels on them, but that was removed for the Galaxy Buds3 generation. Will one of the new brands take over? We’ll have to wait to find out.
This deal is subject to regulatory approval as always, but it is expected to close by the end of the year. Samsung has signed a $350 million contract for the acquisition.
This is expected to grow Harman’s lifestyle business division and cement it in the top spot globally for consumer audio. The global consumer audio market is expected to grow from $60.8 billion this year to $70 billion in 2029, writes Samsung in its press release.
P.S. if Masimo sounds familiar but you can’t place it, it’s the company that is locked in a patent battle with Apple over health tracking tech on the Apple Watch.