Old Lyme, CN–Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG announced the creation of a Consumer Electronics Subsidiary. With headphones now a major portion of their business model, Sennheiser GmbH &Co KG decided it was time to launch a Consumer Electronics subsidiary effective September 2007.

“Our consumer business has been enjoying constant growth for the last few years,” explained Volker Bartels, president, production and logistics and speaker for Sennheiser’s executive team. “The 39.8 percent leap in sales over the past year reveals a dynamism that we’d like to capitalize on to expand our headphone business. Therefore, a separate subsidiary, Sennheiser Consumer Electronics GmbH, was created to focus exclusively on headphones, enabling us to identify early trends and rapidly translate them into outstanding headphone designs for our customers.”

“The consumer electronics world is very fast-moving and processes are quite different from those in project-based business,” explained Bartels. “Large quantities of headphones have to be produced within the shortest of timescales and delivered within a very small timeframe. Identifying future trends and implementing them in a functional design are a must. This presents challenges to product management, purchasing, and production and supply chain management. Sennheiser Consumer Electronics GmbH will allow us to tackle these issues in a more targeted way with shorter reaction times. The rate of innovation in this division will accelerate and new developments will be picked up quickly.”

Sennheiser Consumer Electronics GmbH is split between two branches, Ireland and Singapore. Tullamore in Ireland is where transducer manufacturing, assembly of Sennheiser’s high-performance headphones and worldwide fulfillment are based. Noted Managing Director, Peter Callan, “In Ireland we’re developing our capacity for making high-performance headphone transducers, and so strengthening our core competency. Our close ties to acoustic development in Germany are also contributing to this. There is another emphasis in the form of customer satisfaction - providing a service that is as outstanding as our products.”

Singapore is home to product marketing, product development and purchasing. Commented Managing Director Stijn Jans, “In Singapore we’re at the heart of the consumer industry, in an exciting city which offers the perfect blend of Western and Asian culture. We’re close to emerging trends that could impact consumer electronics. Numerous entertainment electronic companies and a large number of universities are based here ensuring a very healthy climate for research and development.”

Both managing directors have years of experience with Sennheiser and other leading companies in the CE sector. They report directly to the executive team at Sennheiser’s head office. Noted Bartels, “Sennheiser Consumer Electronics is going to create unique headphone solutions dynamically and efficiently, offering consumers worldwide that something extra in terms of design and function - together with the legendary Sennheiser sound, of course.”

For more information, visit www.sennheiserusa.com.