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Sennheiser produces Neumann microphones, the finest recording instruments available in the music recording industry. The company received a Grammy Award in 1999 recognizing the quality of their craftsmanship. Their MKH 816 'shotgun' microphone also received a Technical Oscar Award for capturing sounds like they had never before been recorded in the film industry.

Within the consumer industry, the company has also received many Golden Ear Awards for its dynamic headphones. But the award it is most proud of is one that recognizes the company at home: the German Industry Innovation Award.
Sennheiser's consistently excellent image among recording industry professionals is a primary focus for Rolf Meyer.

"Finally, there is recognition in German industry for something that does not have wheels, wings or float in water," said Rolf Meyer, president and speaker for Sennheiser's executive team. "We are the only company to win this award two years in a row."

Such awards have put the quiet German town of Wedemark, site of the company's headquarters, on the map. Every day, the world's greatest recording industry talents are making music with Sennheiser microphones.

But this reputation for quality has also produced a challenge for the company. "We asked the leading people in the world music industry: if they could have any microphone regardless of price, what would they buy?" said Meyer. "One hundred percent of those surveyed replied 'Sennheiser' because of our extremely high quality and well established name in this business."

"But based on their budgets, only 25 to 30 percent of these same people said they would actually buy a Sennheiser microphone. Seventy percent of the market thought Sennheiser was unreachable because it was too expensive, so we introduced the Evolution series of microphones three years ago with that target group in mind," he added.

Every year since then, Sennheiser has had significant growth in market share worldwide within the microphone industry. Unlike their competition, they are capable of producing a microphone with the Sennheiser name on it, at a lower cost, with more features and higher quality all under the Made in Germany label.

"We built an automated manufacturing line that produces a new microphone every 12 seconds. This line has replaced 60 people with only three," boasted Meyer.

Sennheiser took the Evolution model's success forward into the Evolution Wireless line. The company jumped from producing 40,000 to 165,000 wireless microphone units in one year. "We are now absolutely the number one producer in wireless microphones, in terms of both top of the line quality and market share," he added proudly. "The Evolution Wireless has become the industry standard in just one year and a half."

Japan is one of Sennheiser's oldest markets, owing to a partnership with General Traders in Tokyo forged in 1947. As part of its plan for the Japanese market, Sennheiser is currently looking for the ideal person to manage this important and highly competitive market out of their headquarters in Wedemark.

Sennheiser is innovating in other sectors as well. The company has just won another award for Guideport: a wireless guide system for museums. Unlike other electronic guides, Guideport senses exactly where one is in the museum. This eliminates the need for inputting exhibit numbers. The information stream provided by the guide can also be tailored -- from a full critique to simply the name of the exhibit. The award from International Exhibitions in London was given even before Sennheiser's new system was implemented.

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