Sonos bought a startup that made a light-powered Bluetooth speaker
Mayht developed a technology that promises to make speakers smaller.
Sonos has acquired Mayht, a Dutch startup best known for co-creating a Bluetooth speaker powered by light. Mayht specializes in an audio technology called Heartmotion. The company claims to have reinvented “the core of speaker driver” to allow for speakers that can be up to 10 times more compact than other models without sacrificing sound quality or bass output. And it’s that expertise Sonos is paying approximately $100 million to secure for itself.
“Mayht’s breakthrough in transducer technology will enable Sonos to take another leap forward in our product portfolio,” said CEO Patrick Spence, adding the acquisition would help the company “accelerate” its product roadmap.
Notably, Spence said the deal also gives Sonos access to intellectual property that will help it further differentiate itself from its competitors. The company is currently in the middle of a bitter legal battle with Google over speaker patents. At the start of the year, the US International Trade Commission found that the search giant had infringed on Sonos’ intellectual property, creating a situation where Google downgraded the functionality of some of its devices to circumvent an import ban.
Sonos promised to share more details about its acquisition of Mayht during its Q2 earnings call in May.
