Who owns Sennheiser (and its headphones)?

Sennheiser is one of the good wireless headphone brands out there. In fact, people are comparing it with JBL because of its reliability and durability. The headphone is owned and designed by Sennheiser electronic SE & Co. KG—a legendary German audio equipment manufacturing company that is headquartered in Wedemark, Germany (near Hannover) 

The Sennheiser products are common among music producers, film makers, podcasters, e.t.c. The company builds gear for professional audio use, spanning microphones, headphones, and loud speaker systems. Its pro-audio arm serves live performance, recording studios, broadcast, video and film making projects.

The division also has a footprint in spatial audio and AR/VR/XR applications. The wireless microphones are a common sight on concert stages and live shows. There are chances you've probably spotted your favorite artist performing with one. But that's just a small slice of what the company does. Sennheiser

Who own Sennheiser?

Sennheiser is currently split into two independent business entities. The Professional Audio division remains fully owned by the original founding German Sennheiser family. However, the Consumer Audio division (which makes everyday headphones and earbuds) is currently owned by the Swiss hearing care company Sonova Holding AG, though Sonova announced its intent to sell this consumer division.

Sonova completed the acquisition of the Sennheiser's consumer audio division in 2022 and secured a perpetual license for the Sennheiser brand, under which both existing and new consumer hearing devices will be marketed. It's not common for a family to be deeply rooted to a business. Imagine having majority of a business under a third-generation leadership.

Co-CEOs Daniel Sennheiser and Andreas Sennheiser are the third-generation leadership running the company since 2013. The Sennheiser Group employs more than 2,000 people globally and posted total revenue of €756.7 million in 2019. Among its European rivals are Bang & Olufsen, Focal, and OneSonic—though the competitive landscape has shifted somewhat, with Chinese company Cosonic acquiring Beyerdynamic, for instance.

Founded in 1945 by Fritz Sennheiser, the Sennheiser family retains ownership of the brand and continues to manufacture its professional audio lineup. Facilities in Germany and Ireland handle production of the pro-grade equipment, while consumer-focused products are largely manufactured in Romania.

Sonova divestment of Sennheiser

Sonova announced to divest Sennheiser Consumer Audio Business. The business, which employs about 600 people across Germany and Ireland, is officially classified as a "discontinued operation" for accounting purposes as of the FY 2025/26 results while Sonova searches for a suitable buyer.

Sonova’s decision to sell the consumer hearing division is for the purpose of focusing entirely on medical hearing care—which is the complete reversal of the company’s previous long-term plans when its acquired the consumer division for €200 million with the goal of catching consumers early in their "hearing journey".

Now, the company is saying that the consumer audio market simply does not fit their core business. Under the leadership of CEO Eric Bernard, the cited vast differences between medical hearing aids and consumer electronics, specifically regarding development cycles, demand dynamics, and sales channels.

Let's look at it from another angle. The consumer division only accounted for a mere 6% of Sonova’s total group sales. The recent half-year financial results also showed that there's a 11.6% decline in sales for the consumer division. In addition, Sonova is pursuing an ambitious goal to reach CHF 6 billion in revenue by 2030/31 by pouring all investments exclusively into its lucrative hearing instruments and cochlear implants.

So, financial pressure and structural shift are also the major drivers of Sonova's decision to sell the Sennheiser consumer business. For people who own or intend to buy Sennheiser consumer headphones, soundbars, or earbuds, nothing changes.

Customer service remain active under Sonova during the transition, existing warranties and technical support continue to be fully honored, and the perpetual license to use the "Sennheiser" name for consumer goods remains attached to the division and will transfer to whoever purchases the business from Sonova.

Sennheiser's Headquarters and Factories

Sennheiser global headquarters is in the municipality of Wedemark, Germany. Sennheiser's Wennebostel headquarters houses both its factory—dedicated to high-end consumer and professional audio products—and its Innovation Campus, a 7,000 m² facility that opened in 2015. Wennebostel is a district (Ortsteil) of Wedemark, a municipality in the Hannover region of Lower Saxony, Germany. That's where Sennheiser has its global headquarters.

In addition to the factories in Wennebostel, the company also has factories in Tullamore, Ireland, Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Brașov, Romania. The Sennheiser's Tullamore factory produces acoustic transducers used in headphones and headsets. In Albuquerque, the facility handles wireless systems and components serving the US market, while the Brasov site is dedicated to assembling products for both professional and consumer lines.

The company also has headquarters in the United States of America (USA). The headquarters is located in Old Lyme, Connecticut—but the company has plans to move the U.S. head office to Nashville, Tennessee. In addition, the company manages more than 21 sales subsidiaries and trading partners and is active in more than 50 countries. The company also has research and development sites in Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, Singapore, and the United States. Meanwhile, some of the Sennheiser's consumer products are manufactured in China.