The business relationship between audio brand Sennheiser and audio care conglomerate Sonova is a little confusing, but basically what you need to know is that Sonova finalised their purchase of Sennheiser's consumer division for €200 million back in March 2022. Sennheiser still makes their own studio kit for professionals, but amateur audiophiles are served by Sonova draped in Sennheiser's brand banner. To put it another way, when you pick up some Sennheiser branded headphones—like the HD 550 that Jacob just reviewed—they're actually made by Sonova.
What's far easier to understand is that Sennheiser and Sonova are being fined to a total of nearly €6 million for price fixing. The Bundeskartellamt—that's the federal cartel office in Germany—found that Sennheiser had been engaging in price fixing since at least 2015. What's more, Sonova continued the practice after its purchase of the brand, right up until the antitrust investigation began in September 2022.
