[halcyon]

Samsung (which makes more than just mobile phones, FYI) just bought Harman International, who owns such brands as: AKG, dbx, Harman Kardon, Infinity ,JBL, Paragon, Mark Levinson, Crown audio and Martin Professional. Of course this purchase is about more than just audio, as WSJ states:
 
Samsung to Buy U.S. Auto-Parts Supplier Harman for $8 Billion
http://www.wsj.com/articles/samsung-to-buy-u-s-auto-parts-supplier-harman-for-8-billion-1479107476
Short quote:
"

The South Korean smartphone maker said Monday that it would buy U.S. auto-parts supplier​

Harman International Industries​

Inc.,​

based in Stamford, Conn., for $8 billion in an all-cash deal that instantly makes Samsung a major player in the world of automotive technology."​

 
So, Samsung now has in its corporation now some of the best psychoacousticians alive (Sean Olive) not to mention an insane IP portfolio into amplifiers, signal processing, transducers and decades of psychoacoustics know-how.
 
And to think that Apple bought.... Beats (basically a brand + a streaming service) for $3 billion (the mind boggles).

I think the headphone space is going to get interesting again and old German brands like Beyer and Sennheiser will get a lot of competition and perhaps, just perhaps, we'll finally get a decent pair of IEMs / buds with the next smartphone purchase, sometime in not too distant future.

Mods feel free to move this, if this is in the wrong section.
 
Tags: Harman international, Samsung Electronics, Sean Olive,

 

[akg fanboy]

I wonder what will happen to akg. Hopefully nothing changes for the worse

 

[Beagle]

I wonder what will happen to akg. Hopefully nothing changes for the worse

 Probably means that AKG headphones will now catch fire or blow up.