Image credit: Valentyn Chernetskyi

Many of the world’s biggest audio brands are being bought up by Samsung, with a new deal bringing three more household names under them.

Samsung have agreed upon a $350 million deal that brings renowned audio brands Bowers & Wilkins, Denon, and Polk Audio under their ownership. The three brands join other big audio names that Samsung took under their wing in 2016, including JBL, Harman Kardon, Arcam, AKG, Mark Levinson, and Revel.

The new ownership of the audio brands come as Samsung subsidiary Harman looks to acquire Masimo’s audio business division, which controls the aforementioned brands. They are expecting to close the transaction by the end of 2025.

Samsung said in a press release that they plan to solidify their global No. 1 position in the consumer audio market. They reveal that Harman’s top position saw them control a market share of roughly 60% in portable audio last year, thanks to their existing brand ownership.

Harman Lifestyle Business Unit President, Dave Rogers said: “Harman is proud to have grown into a world-class audio company with 75 years of history, and we expect that the acquisition of another luxury audio brand, Bowers & Wilkins, will further solidify Harman’s position as a true audio powerhouse.”

Samsung plan to use their wide-ranging audio brand ownership to create synergy with their SmartThings system, for connecting and controlling devices. They confirm that “Harman plans to complete the acquisition of Massimo’s audio business unit within the year”.

Massimo’s CEO, Katie Szyman said: “We are committed to continued growth and innovation across our key business lines, and we anticipate that the audio business being sold will grow further under the leadership of Harman, a global audio specialist.”