Bowers & Wilkins Philips Develop High Performance TVs

Over the last decade or so, Bowers & Wilkins has grown from a straightforward speaker builder into a multi-market powerhouse. The British company’s 2007 “Zeppelin” iPod speaker made B&W a household name in the lifestyle audio world. In 2008, B&W’s Jaguar XF audio system marked the company’s entry into car audio (Volvo is B&W’s current automotive partner). In 2010 came the first of what would become an extremely successful line of headphones. Four years later, Bowers & Wilkins unveiled an enormous PA system designed for music festivals. Throughout this expansion, the company continued to develop and release traditional audiophile speakers at a wide range of prices, culminating in the flagship ($30,000/pair) 800 D3 speaker in 2016. In that same year, when Bowers & Wilkins celebrated its 50th anniversary, it was announced that the company was being purchased by a small California-based startup called EVA Automation. Suddenly, the future of this venerable audio institution was up in the air.

But now the brand’s loyal fans have reasons to be optimistic. In addition to releasing successful new products, such as the 700 Series 2 speakers and PX wireless headphones, Bowers & Wilkins has recently invested in an enormous UK-based research and development center, and has secured new sources of revenue. The latest of these is a recently-announced partnership with the European TV brand Philips. Bowers & Wilkins will work with TP Vision (the exclusive licensee of the Philips TV brand) to develop new TV products with premium sound quality. The multi-year agreement will bear its first fruit at the IFA (Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin) consumer electronics exhibition in Germany, which starts on August 31st, 2018.

The two companies will share their internal engineering resources (TP Vision has its own research and development facility in Ghent, Belgium) in order to create TVs that sound as good as they look. TP Vision’s Chief Marketing Officer Martijn Smelt said,

“For far too long, as an industry, we have allowed sound quality to be the poor relation when considering TV performance —  a challenge that has been further exaggerated by the outstanding quality of our OLED sets. So, I'm delighted that we have been able to partner with the World's best audio company, Bowers & Wilkins, to ensure that in future our Philips High End TV sound will offer a uniquely premium experience.”

Richard Campbell, the Chief Revenue Officer for Bowers & Wilkins, sees the partnership as:

“a fantastic opportunity to help redefine the parameters of sound quality and performance on a TV.”

According to Campbell,

“The superb new line of Philips TVs will introduce our well-known audio performance to a new consumer audience who will be able to enjoy… the incredible experience only we can provide.”

Does this partnership represent the beginning of a bright new future for Bowers & Wilkins, or is the revered loudspeaker company veering too far from its high-end audio roots? Share your thoughts in the related forum thread below.