Antitrust office
Illegal agreements: Sennheiser has to pay millions
Many great musicians use the headphones of Sennheiser developed in Germany. However, the cartel office judges the manufacturer illegally up to the shop prices.
Because of illegal price agreements, the company Sennheiser, especially for its headphones, must pay a penalty of six million euros. The manufacturer of audio products intervened with dealers for years in order to achieve higher prices in the shop, the Bundeskartellamt said.
Since at least 2015, the company based in Wedemark near Hannover has regularly observed the sales prices of its own products. Traders who sold them clearly under the Sennheiser, which was intended by Sennheiser, were asked to adapt the prices.
The proceedings were intentionally, the cartel office justified its decision: for example, employees were trained for antitrust law, but had used the findings to cover up.
Sennheiser sold division to Switzerland
Three responsible employees and the German daughter of the hearing aid manufacturer Sonova are also affected by the punishment. The Swiss company took over the private customer business of Sennheiser in March 2022 and continued under the same brand.
The agreements were continued to a lesser extent even after the takeover until the cartel office initiated a search in September 2022, the authority further announced.
dpa
Source: Stern
