Sennheiser and its parent company Sonova have each been fined a total of approximately €6 million due to ongoing price fixing activities that have reportedly been in place since 2015. The German federal cartel office, known as Bundeskartellamt, discovered that Sennheiser was manipulating pricing strategies in collaboration with merchants. This behavior continued even after Sonova’s acquisition of Sennheiser’s consumer division in March 2022 for €200 million.

The investigation highlighted that Sennheiser monitored consumer prices closely, often taking action when prices dipped below the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP), which resulted in retailers subsequently raising prices.

Andreas Mundt, the president of the Bundeskartellamt, noted that Sennheiser’s actions stifled competition and harmed consumers. “This demonstrates that companies must not only adopt compliance measures but also implement them effectively.”

With the fines served, it remains to be seen whether this will prompt better pricing strategies at Sennheiser and help reduce costs for consumers in the future.