Sennheiser electronic, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of microphones, headphones and RF wireless systems, today opened the Singapore branch of its new subsidiary, Sennheiser Consumer Electronics GmbH.  The occasion was attended by several high-level delegates including the German ambassador to Singapore, Mr Folkmar Stoecker, and Ms Linda Sein, Executive Director of Infocommunications and Media, Singapore Economic Development Board. 

Mr Folkmar Stoecker, German Ambassador
Ms Linda Sein, Singapur Economic Development Board
Volker Bartels, President Manufacturing and Speaker for
  the Executive Team,
Stjin Jans, Managing Director
Peter Callan, Managing Director

“With Sennheiser Consumer Electronics GmbH, we have laid the foundations for future growth in our headphone business”, explained Volker Bartels, President Global Manufacturing and Logistics and Speaker of the Sennheiser Executive Team.  “The consumer electronics world is very fast-moving.  Identifying future trends early on and rapidly translating them into outstanding headphone solutions is a must.  Sennheiser Consumer Electronics will allow us to tackle product management, purchasing, production and supply chain management in a more targeted way and with shorter reaction times.” 

Describing the Singapore launch as an important milestone in the history of Sennheiser, Managing Director Stijn Jans said, “Sennheiser Consumer Electronics is presented with the opportunity to become a key player in the consumer electronics market – and we are ready to take up the challenge.  Last year, headphones accounted for approximately a quarter of Sennheiser’s total turnover of 356 million euros (S$750 million), and we intend to increase our sales further.”

(l/r): Volker Bartels, President Manufacturing and Speaker for
the Executive Team, Stjin Jans, Managing Director,
Peter Callan, Managing Director

Two Centres of Excellence
A German company and a hundred percent subsidiary of the parent organisation, Sennheiser Consumer Electronics GmbH is split between two branches, Singapore and Ireland.  Singapore is home to product marketing, project management, high-volume consumer headphone development and purchasing. 

Managing Director Stijn Jans said, “Trends in consumer electronics in general and lifestyle in particular are increasingly originating from Asia.  In Singapore we’re at the heart of the Asian consumer industry, in an exciting city which offers the perfect blend of Western and Asian cultures, and close at hand when new trends emerge.  Being based in that very region will facilitate our understanding of how to serve this market.  Singapore is already a regional hub for a wide array of multinational corporations focusing on consumer electronics, and the large number of universities here ensures a very healthy climate for research and development.”

"The EDB welcomes the setting up of Sennheiser Consumer Electronics office in Singapore. This is the company's first foray in Asia for product development and we are excited that Sennheiser Consumer Electronics will be innovating next-generation products from Singapore.   Singapore is a global city and microcosm of Asia.  It is a vibrant hub to gain deep consumer insights and discern fast changing lifestyle trends.  Our technological capabilities and cosmopolitan talent pool can translate ideas quickly into winning products for the Asian market and beyond”, said Mr Ko Kheng Hwa, Managing Director, Singapore Economic Development Board.  

Presently, a staff of 23 is working in the Singapore office. A number of highly experienced employees have transferred from the German head office to Singapore, and 16 local professionals have been recently recruited. The Singapore branch is now fully operational. “With regard to our manpower, this is of course a start up situation. We expect this business to grow significantly, precise numbers however highly depend on the growth rate and the success of the business,” explained Stijn Jans.

Founded in 1990, the Irish branch in Tullamore employs a staff of over 160, headed up by Managing Director Peter Callan.  This is where transducer manufacturing, assembly of Sennheiser’s high-performance headphones and worldwide fulfilment is based.  Peter Callan remarked, “In Ireland we’re developing our capacity for making high-performance headphone transducers, and so strengthening our core competency.  I believe we have the world’s most modern production lines for headphones and a highly skilled workforce.  Our close ties to acoustic development in Germany underpin our continued growth as a Centre of Excellence in acoustic transducer technology and production.  Furthermore, high-performance fulfilment is increasingly a source of differentiation and competitive advantage in the consumer electronics business.  Together with our colleagues in Singapore, we will be developing global supply chain and fulfilment solutions to support the growth of our consumer electronics customers.  There is another emphasis in the form of customer satisfaction – providing a service that is as outstanding as our products.”

Expertise in Headphones
Founded in 1945 by Prof. Dr. Fritz Sennheiser, Sennheiser electronic has been synonymous with high-end quality products and tailor-made complete solutions for every aspect of the recording, transmission and reproduction of sound for more than 60 years.  The company started manufacturing earphones and headphone capsules in the early 1950s, and is renowned for its groundbreaking invention of the open headphone in 1968.  In the 1970s, Sennheiser spearheaded the development of cordless infra-red headphones.  In the 1990s, the company focused on innovative head-based surround sound systems and the Orpheus electrostatic headphones with valve amplifier, unanimously praised as the best headphones in the world. 

The new millennium is the age of mobile solutions, “and Sennheiser delivers optimum sound quality in very compact designs,” explains Stijn Jans. “Our developers and trend scouts are already working on new, exciting headphone solutions with that something extra in terms of design and function – and the legendary Sennheiser sound of course.”

Notes to the Editor
The Sennheiser Group is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of microphones, headphones and wireless transmission systems. A family firm established in 1945 and based in Wedemark near Hanover, the company recorded sales of over 356 million euros in 2006, 82% of which was generated abroad. Sennheiser employs over 1,800 people worldwide, around 55% of whom are in Germany. The Group has manufacturing plants in Germany, Ireland and the USA and is represented worldwide by subsidiaries in France, the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark (Nordic), Russia, Hong Kong, India, Singapore, Canada, Mexico and the USA, as well as through trading partners in other countries. Also part of the Sennheiser Group are Georg Neumann GmbH, Berlin (studio microphones), K + H Vertriebs- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH (Klein + Hummel studio monitors, installed sound) and the joint venture Sennheiser Communications A/S (headsets for PCs, offices and call centres).

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You can find the latest information on Sennheiser by visiting http://www.sennheiser.com/ or by contacting:

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

Hill & Knowlton (SEA) Pte Ltd
Melanie Shum
Consultant
Tel: +65 6390 3329
Fax: +65 6339 2738
E-mail: mshum@hillandknowlton.com.sg