Logitech buys Jaybird for $50 million
The sport headphone and wearables firm will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary.
If you already make killer audio products, do you think spending $50 million on a headphone firm is a good idea? It is you're Logitech's management, which just cut a check for that amount to buy sports audio outfit Jaybird. Much like Ultimate Ears, Jaybird will remain an independent subsidiary of its new parent company, selling wireless sport buds. Logitech's interest may rest more on Jaybird's sport-focused wearable, Reign, which measures your heart rate variability during training. In a release, Jaybird founder Judd Armstrong says that his firm will "benefit from Logitech's global distribution network and engineering prowess."
It's another step in Logitech's slow but steady plan to take over the world by stealth and shed its image as maker of keyboards and mice. The firm spent 2015 giving itself a glossy rebrand, strengthening its gaming products and moving into smart home products. Ultimate Ears, meanwhile, dropped consumer-level earbuds from its product range a while back in favor of earning plaudits from its Megaboom speakers. Perhaps mixing UE's audio know-how with Jaybird's will produce some exciting headphones for us to drool over next summer.
