Skip to main content

Bang & Olufsen is getting rid of its B&O Play branding

Bang & Olufsen is getting rid of its B&O Play branding

/

Everything will just be a Bang & Olufsen product now

Share this story

If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

Beoplay H9
B&O Play

Bang & Olufsen is eliminating its B&O Play sub-brand in favor of just selling all of its products under its primary Bang & Olufsen brand instead. It’s a move that will presumably cause less confusion to consumers and is extremely welcome in particular to me, a reporter who often had to figure out which brand name I should be using in posts like this (via FlatPanelsHD.)

The change was announced in Bang & Olufsen’s latest earnings report, which notes that the consolidation actually took place over a month ago on June 1st, with the company planning to gradually combine the two brands in areas like marketing, product packaging, and online presence over the next few months.

The reason for the change seems to be simple. While the B&O Play brand was originally introduced as a more budget-friendly place for headphones and speakers from the Danish audio company, the brand now makes up almost half of Bang & Olufsen’s total revenue, per the earnings report. Plus, bringing the headphones and cheaper speakers underneath the same brand umbrella as Bang & Olufsen’s pricier, five-figure speakers and TVs has the added bonus of associating them with the additional prestige of the high-end brand and stops separating the two in terms of perceived quality.

The change is already starting to roll out, with B&O Play products now showing up alongside core Bang & Olufsen hardware on the main site — although actually attempting to purchase them kicks you over to the B&O Play site, which is still around for now.