Press

01.07.2003 - Wedemark

Further growth for Sennheiser

The electroacoustics specialist Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG continued to grow last year and once again stood out positively against the general trend in the electrical industry. As one of the world's leading suppliers of audio products and electroacoustic system solutions, Sennheiser is continuing its global corporate strategy.

Last year, the Sennheiser group was able to increase sales by 0.7% to EUR 229.1 million – in spite of the difficult international economic situation and the unfavorable dollar exchange rate. "The Sennheiser Group enjoyed further strong growth in 2002 and had a successful year, even though we as an internationally oriented company with over 80% of our sales abroad are influenced by the exchange rate of the dollar," said Rolf Meyer, President Marketing and Sales, at the presentation of the Sennheiser Group's balance sheet on July 1 in Wedemark. "In the Asian and American markets, for example, we were able to achieve double-figure growth rates in the local currency, but these were almost entirely cancelled out by exchange rate effects." Earnings in 2002 were EUR 10.2 million. The result was diminished by increased payments for old age provision compared to the previous year.

"The good result reinforces our aim to continue our global corporate strategy with further investment in research and development as well as in the expertise of our workforce," said Meyer. "Last year, we once again gave new impetus to the market – with innovative products and consistent customer orientation."

A sound result – growth rates in almost all markets

In Germany, Sennheiser went against the general market trend and achieved a growth in sales of 4.5% to EUR 42.9 million. "This positive development is also due to the formation of Sennheiser Vertrieb und Service (Sales and Service) GmbH & Co. KG, with which we have sustainably reinforced our sales activities." The sales volume in the Central Europe region increased by 4% to just under EUR 47 million last year.

America remained the largest and most dynamic market for the Sennheiser Group, with sales up by almost US$ 10 million compared to the previous year. The sales volume in euros was 66.3 million (previous year: EUR 67.2 million). There was a slight decline in business in the second-largest sales region Southern/Western Europe and Africa, where Group sales were down one percentage point compared to the previous year at EUR 61.5 million. Sales in the Northern and Eastern Europe region rose by 2% to EUR 33.9 million. The Asia and Australia region also contributed to the positive result with a rise in sales of 4% (13% in local currency) to EUR 20.4 million.

Sennheiser sound – all round the globe

Countless international events, conferences and concerts on all continents benefited from Sennheiser's excellent microphone technology and professional system solutions in 2002. For example, the new high-end radio microphone, the SKM 5000 N, was the star on stages throughout the world – whether it was at the Diva's Night in Las Vegas or at the Eurovision Song Contests in Tallinn and Riga. At the Global Forum of the World Summit in Johannesburg, Sennheiser and its partners supplied the public address systems and provided conference and interpreting systems for around 30,000 delegates from all over the world. Just recently, Sennheiser equipped Erich von Däniken's Mystery Park near Berne in Switzerland with its innovative GuidePort visitor guidance system, which is based on digital radio technology.

In 2002, Sennheiser achieved its largest sales volume of EUR 71.7 million with wireless microphones – giving them a 31% share in overall sales. The second sales mainstay was headphones, which, at EUR 39.2 million, had a share of 17% of sales. Wired microphones had a 14% share (EUR 31.5 million), while the share of sales for all other segments remained below 10%. These include audiology, conference technology, aviation, multimedia and the products of the subsidiary company Georg Neumann GmbH, Berlin.

Further improvement in production processes

The introduction of or preparation for group working and the upgrading of numerous manufacturing processes led to further improvements in productivity and efficiency at the German sites in Wennebostel and Burgdorf. Production here is focused on wired and wireless microphones. The Irish plant in Tullamore concentrates on producing headphones. At this plant, a larger factory building was opened in March 2002 and a modernization project for the machine park was started, which will be continued in 2003 and will result in further cost reductions. In Albuquerque, New Mexico, where the main emphasis is on the production of wireless technology for the American markets, an increase in production volume is planned for the current year. "Thanks to good material availability overall and a favorable price development for electronic components, we were able to further reduce purchasing costs," said Volker Bartels, President Manufacturing. "The signing of global supply contracts played a particularly decisive role in this."

Rapid technology transfer between research and development

In order to ensure that development periods and processes are even more closely oriented to customer requirements, the R&D sector was restructured in 2002. "Our main goal was to accelerate the transfer of know-how between research and development and thereby to increase expertise and quality," explained Dr. Heinrich Esser, President Research and Development of the Sennheiser Group. "Furthermore, we have invested in new employees and were able to take on 18 highly qualified engineers and software developers last year." An outstanding achievement in 2002 was the development of the SKM 5000 N hand-held transmitter, which, in combination with the KK 105 S microphone head from Georg Neumann GmbH, has set a new world standard for wireless vocals microphones. Altogether, Sennheiser spent a total of EUR 13.3 million on research and development last year.

Investment in human resources and new technologies

To ensure the continuous reinforcement of the Group's innovative power, the number of employees was further increased, with the emphasis being placed on the field of research and development. Last year, the workforce of the Sennheiser Group was 1,496 employees on average, an increase of 5.4% over the previous year (1,418). The number of trainees and apprentices increased from 31 to 35. Investment in tangible and intangible assets remained approximately at the level of the previous year at EUR 11.3 million. One area of emphasis was the introduction, begun in 2001, of a new ERP system to optimize business and organizational processes.

Innovative solutions for listening and speaking

"Our positive result for 2002 demonstrates the strength of the Sennheiser Group. Even against the background of a difficult world economic situation, we have been able to achieve growth in sales due to the optimum use of resources and targeted investment in the innovative power of the company," said Rolf Meyer summing up last year's performance. "We remain one of the world's leading companies in audio technology. We use our strengths and our expertise to offer our customers tailor-made solutions. One example is the joint venture company Sennheiser Communications A/S, which was founded together with the Danish company William Demant Holding A/S and which will open up the worldwide market for telecommunications technology – with innovative headset solutions for call centers, small office/home office and PC applications. As always: Sennheiser sets the standards."

For further information, please contact: 

Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG
Press & PR • Edelgard Marquardt
Am Labor 1 • 30900 Wedemark • Germany
Tel: +49 (5130) 600-329
Fax: +49 (5130) 600-295
E-Mail: marquare@sennheiser.com