Bang & Olufsen has started phasing out its B&O Play – or BeoPlay – sub-brand that now makes up almost half of the company’s revenue. In the future, everything will be sold under the Bang & Olufsen umbrella.

B&O Play is almost half of revenue
Bang & Olufsen’s earnings report for 2018/19 reveals that it is a very different company than 5-10 years ago. Back then, TV sales made up 50% of its annual revenue but are down to 26% today. The more affordable B&O Play sub-brand now makes up almost half of revenue (47%).

This is as far as B&O Play will go. Just before it overtakes the classic luxury Bang & Olufsen brand, the Danish company has started phasing out the use of its sub-brand.

- ”Effective 1 June 2018, the company integrated the two business units and going forward will operate under a single brand, Bang & Olufsen,” the company wrote in its earnings report. “This single-brand approach will be gradually implemented during 2018/19 across marketing, product packaging, in store visual merchandising, digital platforms and other touchpoints.”



You may know the B&O Play sub-brand best from the popular headphones launched over the last couple of years. However, the company also launched a BeoPlay V1 TV in 2012. Over the years, some products have been in a grey zone between the affordable and fashionable B&O Play sub-brand and the classic luxury Bang & Olufsen main brand. One example is the BeoVision Horizon TV that has Bang & Olufsen branding, despite it being positioned as the company’s most affordable TV.

The earnings report for 2018/19 also confirms that Bang & Olufsen is once again making money after several years of negative earnings (EBIT). Revenue rose 11 percent to 3285 million DKK while earnings before tax (EBIT) came in at 122 million DKK.

So, B&O Play will soon be a thing of the past. Expect to see the Bang & Olufsen logo show up on headphones, portable speakers, streaming speakers, and other products in the near future.