Harman accomplished the acquisition of a number of hi-fi audio manufacturers in 2025, together with the likes of Denon, Marantz, Polk, Definitive Know-how, and Bowers & Wilkins. The acquisition was simply the newest in a string of them seen over time, which brings much more high-end audio manufacturers below the broader Samsung umbrella, as Harman is a subsidiary of the Korean tech big. The deal was closed in September 2025, and Samsung has since shared plans to convey the experience of those audio manufacturers to its different gadgets, together with its smartphones, which may assist herald in a serious audio improve for Samsung telephones on the entire.
It is a main transfer for Samsung, which has been much less aggressive about promoting its audio manufacturers as being connected to the father or mother firm past using the expertise they’re identified for inside a few of its different merchandise. As an alternative, the corporate has principally utilized the know-how and experience of its beforehand owned firms — together with JBL, which stays a favourite of Amazon buyers — to enhance the sound tuning and general capabilities of telephones just like the S26 Extremely, in addition to its laptops, tablets, and even its wi-fi headphones and soundbars.
Now, the corporate says it plans to do the identical with expertise from Bowers & Wilkins, Marantz, and Denon. And these will not be small names. The manufacturers that Samsung has added to its assortment stay a number of the most well-known within the audio business, all with storied histories. Marantz reportedly created one of many first mass-adopted CD gamers within the Nineteen Eighties.
The acquisition brings so much to the desk for Samsung
Whereas the acquisition formally closed in 2025, Samsung nonetheless hasn’t marketed a lot about its use of tech from Bowers & Wilkins or any of the opposite manufacturers it picked up as a part of this deal. Nonetheless, that is not all that shocking, particularly because the deal did not formally shut till simply earlier than the tip of the yr. As such, there’s unlikely to be a lot change throughout Samsung gadgets till 2027 on the earliest. Regardless, there is not any assure of how Samsung will incorporate this tech.
That is as a result of when firms herald new manufacturers and expertise, they should discover a method to incorporate these applied sciences effectively. Samsung was doubtless already engaged on how its 2026 gadgets would look and work. So, it will make sense for customers to not see the fruits of this deal till it is subsequent era of gadgets. Nonetheless, firms are inclined to function on their very own timelines, and which means discovering a method to incorporate the expertise and know-how that Bowers & Wilkins convey to the desk, in addition to discovering methods to license these applied sciences out to different manufacturers — one thing Samsung has been doing with its audio manufacturers for years.
It is going to be fascinating to see how Samsung makes use of the information and expertise these new manufacturers convey to the desk to assist improve its audio experiences throughout future gadgets. The corporate stays the top-rated Android telephone in buyer satisfaction, so these adjustments might pull in much more followers to the model.
