Note: This article was first published on 14 June 2024.
Jabra Elite 10 Gen 2 with LE Audio smart case. Image Source: Jabra
It's a strange news day indeed when a brand both announces their next generation flagship product, and the decision to close down the same product line, at the same time.
Jabra's parent company, GN pushed out two press releases on the 11th of June. The first, announced the Second Generation Elite 8 Active and Elite 10 earbuds. As the naming implies, these are direct updates to their current Elite 8 Active and Elite 10. The Gen 2 models basically have the same features, but are improved across the board. This means better spatial audio tuning, better active noise cancellation performance, a more natural hear through mode, and clearer voice calls with 6-microphones.
The most interesting update is not actually to the earbuds, but the charging case. Claiming to be the world’s first LE Audio smart case, Jabra has basically turned the standard charging case into a universal LE Audio dongle. The case supports a dual USB-C and 3.5mm cable, which should allow it to connect to just about any modern audio source. It will then wirelessly stream to the earbuds via Bluetooth LE Audio. LE Audio uses the LC3 codec, which offers higher quality audio over standard Bluetooth SBC codec.
Immediately following the new earbuds release, was the announcement that GN will wind down the entire Elite and Talk family of products and is expected to complete the exercise by the end of 2024. GN promised to continue customer service and support for "several years", but did not provide an actual number.
According to the press release, Elite and Talk constitute about 80% of GN’s consumer business. The remaining 20% belonging to the BlueParrot sub-brand will be moved to the enterprise business instead. This effectively means that GN will completely retreat from the consumer market.
Peter Karlstromer, CEO of GN Store Nord, said, “The decision to gradually wind down the Elite and Talk product lines is part of our commitment to focus on attractive markets where we can deliver profitable growth and strong returns.
We have demonstrated that we can compete in even the most challenging categories with our leading technology and go-to-market strengths. We did this with our Elite line by delivering multiple worlds-first innovations for consumers, especially in true wireless earbuds, driving global market share gains. The markets, though, have changed over time, and it is today our assessment that we cannot generate a fair return on investment compared to the many other opportunities we have within our Hearing, Enterprise, and Gaming businesses.”
If you are wondering what gaming business GN has from the quote above, they own SteelSeries.
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