Logitech Acquires Blue Microphones for $117 million cash

[PineyCreek]

Original article:

 

https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/7/30/17633144/logitech-acquires-blue-microphones-announcement

 

Logitech is taking yet another company under its umbrella in order to bolster its audio hardware offerings.  They purchased Blue Microphones for a cool $117 million (USD) cash.  Standard corporate happy-speak abounded in Logitech's blog post announcing the acquisition, but they seem quite enthusiastic about the opportunities such an acquisition provides them.  Blog post here: https://blog.logitech.com/2018/07/30/logitechs-micing-up-with-blue/?cvosrc=affiliate.cj.7596969

 

From the Logitech CEO Bracken Darell:

 

“Logitech’s acquisition of Blue Microphones will accelerate our entry into a growing market, and offers another way for us to help bring people’s passions (from music to blogging) to life. Joining with Blue is an adjacent opportunity for us – a new way to grow – with additional synergies related to our existing gaming, PC webcam and audio categories.  It’s exciting!”

 

At this point no joint projects or rebrandings have been announced, but Logitech has acquired other gaming and peripheral brands before, such as when it bought Astro Gaming approximately a year and a month ago.  Since then no obvious signs of rebranding have occurred on the company's hardware save the copyright notice at the bottom of their site, but it can safely be assumed that there will be technology shared and jointly developed to improve future offerings under all the brands.

 

[Taf the Ghost]

That's actually a pretty smart acquisition for Logitech.

[Sniperfox47]

Logitech is becoming a powerhouse with all their acquisitions lately...

 

UE boom for their traditional audio tech.

Astro for their surround sound and headphone transfer function tech.

Blue for their recording tech.

And then all of the stuff Logitech already had on the camera and I/O side.

 

I really hope we see some big innovations from them moving forward. It's been really interesting watching what they've enabled UE to do since that acquisition, and even with Astro there have been some refinements behind the scenes.

[Syntaxvgm]

1 hour ago, VegetableStu said:

That sounds like if Razer acquired Schiit o_o

I mean they did buy THX 
https://www.theverge.com/2016/10/17/13309346/razer-buys-thx-lucasfilm

40 minutes ago, Sniperfox47 said:

Logitech is becoming a powerhouse with all their acquisitions lately...

 

UE boom for their traditional audio tech.

Astro for their surround sound and headphone transfer function tech.

Blue for their recording tech.

And then all of the stuff Logitech already had on the camera and I/O side.

 

I really hope we see some big innovations from them moving forward. It's been really interesting watching what they've enabled UE to do since that acquisition, and even with Astro there have been some refinements behind the scenes.

With Logitech being worse and worse general quality in recent years, I really dont see how it helps them. Audio tech is simply a question of cost when you have the right access to good design/materials. Do you really think gaming branded headsets and mics will be better? And their other offerings are starting to match their gaming quality as well. And their other audio offerings are more for business/basic consumer. Call center headsets, etc. 
I see them still selling suff like blue condenser mics on their own and for rebrands elsewhere, thats it really. Stuff like the razer mic that's basically an overpriced yeti. And if it does become cheaper, then that means they cut corners probably. 

[TVwazhere]

4 hours ago, PineyCreek said:

They purchased Blue Microphones for a cool $117 million (USD) cash.

Why does this feel like Logitech got a killer deal? I guess I'm so used to seeing "Billion dollar" attached to the purchase of a company. Though I guess for a company that really only makes microphones, (turns out they make headphones too I guess) $117 isnt too bad. Still, that's probably chump change for Logitech. 

[Taf the Ghost]

7 minutes ago, TVwazhere said:

Why does this feel like Logitech got a killer deal? I guess I'm so used to seeing "Billion dollar" attached to the purchase of a company. Though I guess for a company that really only makes microphones, (turns out they make headphones too I guess) $117 isnt too bad. Still, that's probably chump change for Logitech. 

Because the big guys have been overpaying for quite a few things. There are reasons for that. (Functionally, it's payoffs & back scratching.) Considering that Blue seems to have good revenue, this seems like the appropriate price for the company & IP. That normally means it won't hurt the purchasing company and there's no money laundering involved.

[Syntaxvgm]

10 minutes ago, TVwazhere said:

Why does this feel like Logitech got a killer deal? I guess I'm so used to seeing "Billion dollar" attached to the purchase of a company. Though I guess for a company that really only makes microphones, (turns out they make headphones too I guess) $117 isnt too bad. Still, that's probably chump change for Logitech. 

I would disagree, but billions get exchanged for apps and shit that like measure your dick or something with a company consisting of 4 people and a user base in the hundred of thousands, not even millions. 

[cluelessgenius]

all the guys i know who use logitech are logitech fanboys therefore have everything by logitech 

 

logitech probably thought now they already have headsets and keyboards and mice and just about all peripherals covered what else are people using...well alot of people stream their games and most of them you blue mics lets do that.

 

bet money we gonna see something like the blue yeti or razer whatever it was called. - Logitech M810 or so with rgb leds and a tiny 3 row text display that nobodys gonna use BUT its gonna be wireless with unifying receiver and have the best lag..like no lag at all for unrivaledgaming experience ...blablabla

[Sniperfox47]

1 hour ago, Syntaxvgm said:

With Logitech being worse and worse general quality in recent years, I really dont see how it helps them. Audio tech is simply a question of cost when you have the right access to good design/materials. Do you really think gaming branded headsets and mics will be better? And their other offerings are starting to match their gaming quality as well. And their other audio offerings are more for business/basic consumer. Call center headsets, etc. 

I see them still selling suff like blue condenser mics on their own and for rebrands elsewhere, thats it really. Stuff like the razer mic that's basically an overpriced yeti. And if it does become cheaper, then that means they cut corners probably. 

There's a difference between "Logitech" the brand, and Logitech the company though. With the branding I'd definitely agree, but the company as a whole has been doing some amazing things.

 

Jaybird has been doing great since they got bought out, UE too, Astro is still rocking their existing product lineup but defect rates are down.

 

I don't really care about their gaming lineup, where I see the value in these purchases is for things like VR/AR solutions, audio mapping, and other new/upcoming fields.

 

Audio is *incredibly* important for VR environments and between Jaybird and UE's audio solutions, Astro's multi-driver transfer function patents, the high quality mic designs from Blue, and their own 3D camera tech Logitech is in a really strong place for bussiness class VR telecom for the next couple years.

 

1 minute ago, cluelessgenius said:

bet money we gonna see something like the blue yeti or razer whatever it was called. - Logitech M810 or so with rgb leds and a tiny 3 row text display that nobodys gonna use BUT its gonna be wireless with unifying receiver and have the best lag..like no lag at all for unrivaledgaming experience ...blablabla

I'll take that money happily. There's no precedent for it. So far Logitech has been happy to allow their audio aquisitions to continue mainly undisturbed. Hell most of the people I've talked to about it don't even know that Jaybird, UE, and Astro are owned by logitech and Astros an actual gaming company that they could leverage the brand name of.

[orbitalbuzzsaw]

Smart purchase, now Logitech can dominate the audio market even fucking more

[cluelessgenius]

9 minutes ago, huilun02 said:

Good for them. Power to the one peripheral manufacturer that actually pushes tech forward and not just slap RGB onto everything 

right...what actual push do you mean ? they have like a dozen rgb keyboards and mice and or the love of god even RGB speakers as of late.

dont get me wrrong i like their more business oriented stuff alot but the gaming brand is just overdone. they still have that stupid display on their high end keyboards. that thing has been around since forever and there has been very little use for it.

again i do love my logitech mx master. the design is great, functionality is great and the battery lasts for freaking ever. and then theres the very old z4 speakers im still using and loving. but thats all pretty neutral. the gaming side i really dont like espicially since they stoppe using cherry switches.

so maybe this is fine but my first association with "logitech" was their gaming brand 

[Sniperfox47]

1 minute ago, huilun02 said:

They are ahead in mouse sensors, was the first to bring viable wireless gaming mice to the masses, as well as wireless charging mice (and is still the only one that can charge DURING use), is actively making new gaming mice that focuses on light weight and practicality. None of their latest keyboards have a display any more. And their mice and webcam give you a lot for how affordable they are. Among other brands like Corsair, Asus and Razer, I feel Logitech gives more actual tech than an overemphasis on bling.

Yeah now instead of an LCD on the keyboard they have a stand so you can use your phone as the LCD

 

Friggen ARX, you're just as useless as the old G-panel...

[Drak3]

11 minutes ago, huilun02 said:

Logitech is shifting towards AA powered mice.

No, they're not. For a long time, every offering they had was powered by AA or AAA. Now, they're using internal rechargables more and more.

[Drak3]

9 minutes ago, huilun02 said:

Like the G602/603/305?

MX Master, MX Ergo, MX Anywhere, G903, G703.

 

But sure, lets only look at the low to low mid end and old selection of Logitech's offerings.

[Drak3]

Just now, huilun02 said:

The G305 is very new...

What about notable AA powered mice from the other big brands?

Razer Ouroboros.

Microsoft Arc Touch.

 

 

Also, I didn't say all of the mice Logi still uses AA/AAA are old. I said that only their low to low mid end and old mice uses them.

[Trixanity]

4 hours ago, huilun02 said:

The G305 is very new...

What about notable AA powered mice from the other big brands?

Yeah, it's crazy that a single AA battery can last 9 months in a gaming mouse (if you're willing to sacrifice polling rate).

 

The only thing missing from it is Bluetooth for when you don't want the dongle life for whatever reason.

[Guest]

Logitech are a great brand. It's nice to see some progress. The keyboards I have used from them (G710+) are very lovely as are the mice (G303, G502). I prefer them, definitely for the keyboards, compared to Corsair and Razer. 

[potoooooooo]

Rest in peace Blue. We'll bury you in the same ditch as Jaybird and Saitek ended up in

[PineyCreek]

Logitech's gone a bit dark lately...much less advertising.  I think they're depending on brand loyalty and word of mouth and reviews to keep them in the public eye.  Even so, they seem to be doing alright.  Maybe they believe that their acquisitions are a quicker way to remain relevant and technically up to date.  Plenty of companies buy other companies or license technology when it's cheaper than doing their own R&D on a product or they feel it will position them to more quickly put out a product to rival a competitor's product.  I'm really curious what kind of cross-company tech-sharing's going on behind the scenes with them.

[artuc]

I'm a bit pessimistic maybe but I find big brands can end up destroying smaller brands, I'm talking unintentionally, I would imagine competitors can be deliberately bought up and buried too.

 

From what I've seen, there are some possible bad scenarios.

 

1. Quality goes down, big company buys it, decides that small scale local bespoke manufacturing costs too much, let's make it in Generic Crap Factory #274 overseas instead.

 

2. The essence of the brand gets lost in the big brand. A company that may be known for innovation gets snuffed out as it's too radical for the conservative big brand, it's cheaper that the amazing tech support gets disbanded and big brands crappy support team will cover it and so on.

 

3. Potential innovation and integration doesn't get done and sub brands just stagnate. What could be an amazing opportunity to apply design and tech from one brand to improve all product lines is squandered and products from different sub brands just don't work well with each other even though they are under the one brand umbrella. It should be amazing and it's just meh.

 

 

[vanished]

This makes a lot of sense from Logitech's perspective.  Blue's microphones are frequently recommended and are a staple accessory as much as any popular Logitech or Corsair thing, so I'm sure they'll do well with this.  I also expect they'll take the tech and integrate it into their other products, (potentially) in addition to continuing to sell the same things.  One thing I'd like to see is the capsule(s) from the Blue Yeti as a standalone product with dual XLR outputs.  The regular one has only USB, meaning an integrated preamp and ADC, and the "pro" has an upgraded version of that same hardware as well as a stereo XLR out, but for those who would like to get a separate interface for the purpose of making the mic itself lighter and smaller, improving upgradability, expanding the range of gain (even min on these is kinda high in some use cases) and of course lowering the cost (at least of the mic, maybe not of the whole package), that would be a nice option.  It isn't by any means the most amazing condenser mic capsule in the world, but it's really rather good, and with a higher end interface it could really shine.  The main reason I like it is it's not just one capsule, but in fact 3 which allows it to act as a mono cardioid, omni, figure 8, and even stereo which you will not find in any other product at its pricepoint as far as I am aware.