Bose Buys Headphone Brand Skullcandy

US audio company Bose announced on Wednesday that it is acquiring Skullcandy, a headphone and lifestyle brand known for its bass-heavy sound. The deal gives Bose access to a group of customers it says it has largely not reached under its own brand.

Skullcandy will remain a separate company within Bose's Premium Consumer Audio business, and it will keep its base in Park City, Utah. Bose CEO Lila Snyder says the city is the centre of board sports culture, and the company wants to stay close to it.

A partnership already in place

The deal is not entirely unexpected. Over the past year, Bose has contributed its audio expertise to Skullcandy products through its Sound by Bose licensing programme: Skullcandy designs the headphones, and the two firms work together on sound. The collaboration began in 2025 with the Method 360 ANC earbuds and continued in July with the Crusher 1080 ANC headphones. ANC stands for active noise cancelation.

Skullcandy CEO Brian Garofalow told WIRED in July that the 23-year-old company is strong at building community and culture but admitted it is not the best at the engineering side of product innovation. He said the first Skullcandy product was designed on a ski chairlift.

Bose's earlier purchases

This is not Bose's first audio acquisition. In 2024 it bought McIntosh Group, owner of the luxury audio brands McIntosh Laboratory and Sonus Faber. Snyder says Bose looks at whether a brand has meaning for consumers and is relevant to groups it would not otherwise reach.

Skullcandy's products are relatively affordable, which lets Bose compete at both ends of the market. Snyder describes the joint products so far as only the beginning of what the two companies can do together. WIRED rated the Method 360 ANC earbuds 8 out of 10.