Who owns Ultimate Ears speakers?

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Walk across a college campus, visit a crowded beach, or peek into a professional musician’s heavy touring gear bag, and you’ll likely spot a product made by Ultimate Ears. The brand has built a dedicated fan base since its inception, dominating the market for quality Bluetooth audio equipment and high-end in-ear monitors. However, unlike some hardware companies that operate as independents or faceless conglomerates, the corporate structure behind this beloved audio brand is actually directly linked to one of the largest peripheral manufacturers on the planet: Logitech.

Because Ultimate Ears is so popular around the world today, offering some of the best Bluetooth speakers you can buy, many consumers simply assume that the brand was born in a corporate boardroom. In fact, the company was founded in 1995 by Jerry and Mindy Harvey, with its origins rooted in some really cool rock and roll history. At the time, Jerry was working as a touring sound engineer for the iconic rock band Van Halen. Drummer Alex Van Halen actively struggled against the deafening volume of traditional stage speakers. So, in response to this undeniably dangerous working environment, Harvey built custom-molded headphones containing tiny dual-driver drivers: these in-ear headphones would help block out all stage noise while delivering nice, clean, isolated sound all the way to the drummer’s ears. All of Van Halen loved the personalized feedback, word of mouth quickly spread to other major touring bands, like Skid Row, and the audio brand was officially born.

While the rock star origin story is undeniably cool, the original founders no longer take the lead. This is where Logitech comes in. In August 2008, the Swiss tech giant stepped in and officially acquired the audio company for $34 million. At the time of the buyout, Ultimate Ears was essentially tech royalty among professional musicians and hardcore audiophiles, but everyday consumers weren’t exactly rushing to buy its pricey high-end in-ear monitors.

Logitech saw a huge opportunity to change this. It took all that top-tier audio engineering and combined it with his deep pockets and global reach. Instead of focusing solely on the concert stage, Logitech pushed Ultimate Ears into our backyards, living rooms, and beach bags, with its brightly colored round Bluetooth speakers that are now a must-have for any good summer party. Now, when you buy Ultimate Ears speakers, you’re looking for fun, sturdy, and (best of all) reasonably affordable speakers that were designed and built entirely under Logitech’s oversight. Although the brand was created for rock stars, we can now enjoy its iconic power and style at home.

Because Ultimate Ears has such a fun and distinct vibe, it’s easy to think of it as a completely independent company. However, it’s actually just one part of Logitech’s much larger and surprisingly diverse technology family. Over the years, the company has quietly acquired a handful of other fan-favorite brands to conquer almost every corner of your digital life.

If you’re a PC gamer (or even just working from home), you probably already know that Logitech is a heavyweight champion, thanks to its wildly popular gaming mice and keyboards. But its gadget offerings don’t stop there, thanks to all the other acquired companies. These include Astro Gaming (which makes gaming headsets), Loupedeck (for its software consoles), and Blue Microphones (this one is hopefully self-explanatory). Naturally, the company’s reach also extends into the software realm, as it acquired brands like Streamlabs (live streaming software) in 2019 and esports support tool Chonglet (but only for about three and a half years, which have now passed). So when it comes to the tech accessories in your daily life, like the mouse you use at work or the colorful speakers you stream music to while lounging by the pool, you might be using a Logitech product. Now the real question is: who owns Logitech?