For German audio firm Sennheiser, which marks 80 years of existence, India has climbed from the 10th spot to the fifth. ANDREAS SENNHEISER, co-chief executive officer of the company, in an exclusive in-person interaction with Udisha Srivastav, discusses India operations, upcoming products, plans for 2025, and the impact of selling the consumer side of the business. Edited excerpts:
Sennheiser completes 80 years this year. How important has India been in Sennheiser’s journey?
I think pushing the boundaries of audio for 80 years is a story of creating legacy products and new applications, like the first wireless microphone in 1958 and the first headphones in 1968. What made us strong was the ability to adapt and innovate.
India is one of our most dynamic markets. It has seen consistent growth — except for the pandemic year. Overall, it has been a growth story.
India is now our fifth-largest market, moving up from the top 10. Looking ahead, much depends on how other markets perform, but my growth expectations for India are higher than for any other country. We have to remain highly focused and fast. I believe India will eventually surpass other markets one by one.
India is one of the largest consumer markets in the world. How do you see it from an audio tech perspective?
The two areas we’re focusing on are business communication and professional audio production and reproduction. We sold the consumer business a few years ago, so while Sennheiser products still exist, they are no longer under our ownership. However, we’ve seen tremendous success in the professional segment because India has always had a thriving music, film, and entertainment industry.
In the past five years, we’ve seen a level of professionalism that is now on a par with other countries. Even the highest-standard microphones for studios, which cost a couple of thousand euros, are highly valued here.
How has the split (selling the consumer segment) impacted the business?
It allowed us to focus entirely on the professional side, in terms of management attention, funding, and development. Our business communication pipeline and product line have grown considerably, and our research and development (R&D) spending for the pro audio market has expanded sizeably.
What trends do you see in the audio industry?
The biggest trend we see is immersive audio formats. Whether through Netflix, Apple TV, or regional and local providers, immersive formats — be it Dolby Atmos, Sony 360, or others — are becoming the standard in both post-production and recording.
What has been the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI (GenAI) on the audio industry?
AI is proving to be incredibly useful, especially GenAI, which can create lifelike voices with remarkable accuracy. The key question is how much content will be recorded versus generated. AI will simplify many processes, allowing artistes to focus on refining their work rather than starting from scratch. AI can get us to 80 per cent, and then the artistes will add the final 20 per cent.
Do you have specific plans for India in 2025?
In 2025, our key principles will be focus and speed. We want to concentrate on the biggest opportunities because, in India, if you’re not focused and fast, you risk getting lost. With so many possibilities, it’s easy to get distracted.
This year, we aim to focus on the biggest business opportunities, particularly in the pro audio segment for more complex productions. Larger festivals are becoming common, so we will prioritise the music and business communication sectors.
With the rise of mobile and streaming content consumption in India, along with growing interest in gaming and podcasting, how do you see Sennheiser products playing a role in this trend?
We differentiate between professional broadcasters, such as national television channels, and independent or amateur but professional podcasters. While they use the same products, the complexity varies.
Our profile wireless microphone and the MK4 have been well received by India’s podcasting community. India is the single largest market for these podcast microphones.
E-commerce is very important for us, so both Flipkart and Amazon are important channels for us here. However, we want to ensure that products that need consultancy, support or even testing, get the right channel. We are available there but it's a limited portfolio. Quick commerce is not one of our channels as this instant demand is very rare or non-existent.
India's wearables market is currently witnessing a decline. What's your view on it?
We have sold the consumer business, the wearables are out of focus for us for now. I think this is still a growing segment and the wearables will have more and more features built in. With AI and instant translation in the ear and other possibilities like speech enhancement, the wearables will have multiple functionalities from a hearing aid to a translator to a heart rate monitor.
How important is the Indian market in terms of R&D and product development for Sennheiser? And what is the firm’s talent pool in India?
India is a test bed when it comes to accepting new ways of work because many of the global markets are conservative when it comes to adopting new technology and change. India has leapfrogged from very little technology adoption to the latest in tech. There's a very high acceptance of anything new.
About the talent pool, we are constantly growing here. We currently have 52 people in India, across three sites, Bangalore, Delhi, and Mumbai, and three service centres.
 "Growth expectations for India high; it will surpass other mkts: Sennheiser")
