Yahoo Finance Devialet severs ties with Apple after 'disappointing sales'
High-end audio company Devialet has pulled its products from Apple Stores after becoming “disappointed” by the retail partnership.
Devialet chief executive Franck Lebouchard said that the company would begin selling its speakers in Microsoft’s stores in the US, meaning it has ditched Apple’s stores for one of the business’ biggest rivals.
The French company is best-known for its line of “Phantom” high-end speakers, which have helped the business to attract investment from carmaker Renault, rapper Jay Z and Android creator Andy Rubin’s venture capital fund.
Since 2015, the company has sold its Phantom speakers through Apple’s physical and online stores.
The partnership with Apple formed after Devialet’s former chief executive was introduced to Apple boss Tim Cook by Marc Benioff, the co-founder of US technology giant Salesforce.
That deal has now ended, however. “The salespeople at Apple do not have a target to sell Phantom,” Mr Lebouchard said.
In February, Apple released its own home speaker, the HomePod.
“The second Apple launched HomePod and put it on the table right next to Phantom, we were all sort of disappointed,” Mr Lebouchard said.
Apple’s HomePod smart speaker sells for £319, which is far cheaper than Devialet’s high-end Phantom speaker which retails from £1,490.
The chief executive did say that his company’s partnership with Apple has been “great for our awareness and branding image.” He denied that Devialet ended the relationship because of its new, cheaper speaker which competes more directly with Apple’s Homepod.
The new Phantom Reactor speaker retails from £990, down from the original Phantom speaker’s price.
Apple sells many products that aren’t made by the company through its stores and website. It sells a range of third-party headphones, for example, as well as accessories for its own products.
But the relationship with other manufacturers in Apple Stores has sometimes become strained. In 2014, Apple dropped Bose headphones and speakers from its stores. That decision came as Bose filed a patent claim against Apple, and the dispute was later settled out of court.
In 2014, Apple stopped selling Fitbit fitness trackers in its retail stores ahead of the launch of its Apple Watch, which included similar functionality.
Devialet has now struck a new retail partnership with Microsoft which will its speakers sold in the technology company’s line of stores in the US.
