Sennheiser Slapped with a Hefty Fine for Underhanded Price Fixing
Sennheiser Faces Steep Fines for Breaking Legal Contracts: Millions to be Penalized - Sennheiser faces a substantial penalty of one million dollars.
Woah, hold up! The popular audio gear producers, Sennheiser, have found themselves in hot water after the Federal Cartel Office unmasked their sneaky tricks in price manipulation. This nifty company, well-known for their headphones, is now facing a whopping six million euros in fines.
So here's the skinny: since as early as 2015, Sennheiser has been keeping a keen eye on the retail prices of their own products. What's shocking, mate, is that they've been putting pressure on retailers who dared to sell their goods at prices significantly under Sennheiser's recommended retail price (RRP).
The cheeky bastards at the Federal Cartel Office don't seem amused. They've clearly stated that this isn't some innocent slip-up; the Sennheiser crew were well aware of what they were doing—their employees were even trained in cartel law, but they used that knowledge to sneakily cover their tracks.
But this saga doesn't end with Sennheiser, mate. The Swiss hearing aid manufacturer Sonova's German subsidiary is also in the firing line, along with three of their employees. Sonova snatched up Sennheiser's consumer business way back in March 2022 and kept it under the same brand.
The underhand dealings didn't cease with the acquisition—they continued, although in a lesser degree, until the Federal Cartel Office stepped in with a search in September 2022.
- Sennheiser electronic
- Federal Cartel Office
- Headphones
- Millions in fine
- Price-fixing
- Germany
- Bonn
- Collusion
- Bundeskartellamt
- Hannover
- Sonova
- Antitrust
[1] Bundeskartellamt investigation and fine: https://www.bundeskartellamt.de/en/press/press-releases/2023-05-29-sennheiser-fined-for-price-fixing[2] Sonova involved in price fixing: https://www.one-click-distribution.com/news/headphone-manufacturer-slapped-with-e6-million-fine-over-price-fixing-schemes/
- The Federal Cartel Office in Germany has imposed a fine of six million euros on Sennheiser electronic for their involvement in price fixing, a practice that has been ongoing since at least 2015.
- Sennheiser, popular for their headphones, has been found guilty of employing tactics to pressure retailers into selling their products at prices above the recommended retail price (RRP).
- The investigation into Sennheiser's collusive activities was led by the Bundeskartellamt, Germany's federal antitrust authority, which uncovered that employees at Sennheiser were trained in cartel law to cover their tracks.
- In a related development, Sonova, a Swiss hearing aid manufacturer, and three of its employees in Germany are also under investigation for their role in the price-fixing scheme, which continued even after Sonova acquired Sennheiser's consumer business in March 2022.
