With immediate effect, all new products will carry the Jabra brand and existing products will migrate to the Jabra brand over the next 12-15 months. The process will start immediately with the multimedia series and the re-branding of the recently launched GN 500 which will become the Jabra GN5000.
“Over the last few years, the Bluetooth headset market has grown exponentially and if forecasts are accurate we expect to see market growth of 74% from 58 million units in 2006 to 222 million units in 2011. If we are to capitalise on that opportunity, though, we need to make sure we’re well positioned,” said Toon Bouten, President and CEO of GN Store Nord. “Our communications will now all fall under the Jabra brand and we will use its power to support our already-strong position in the enterprise and contact centre segment as well as underpin our ambitious goals in the mobile category.”
The change in branding follows a major initiative to improve efficiencies and follows the integration in May 2006 of GN’s two headset divisions. In October, GN signed an agreement to sell its hearing instruments division to Phonak Holding AG. The result will be an organisation completely focused on the headset market and well-positioned to maintain its leadership position globally.
“We see a very clear direction for the headset market and that is towards convergence,” said Bouten. “Office headsets, IP telephony, headsets for mobile users and those for entertainment devices are all beginning to merge and we need to be at the vanguard of this change if we are to maintain our leadership position. That’s why we’ve made the changes inside our organisation so we’re better prepared for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.”