Jabra CEO bets on sports kit for business boom
Headset vendor's CEO hails strength of commercial sector
Jabra's CEO has said technology designed for the consumer sports space could be used to boost its booming commercial business.
René Svendsen-Tune told CRN the commercial business already makes up two thirds of Jabra's sales, with the rest coming from the consumer space. He said the business side could be in for a boost after borrowing technology initially designed with consumers in mind.
The headset manufacturer currently offers gear designed for consumers who play sports or exercise regularly, with the wireless earphones able to take pulse measurements and feed it to a mobile app.
Svendsen-Tune insists that the technology is not just consumer based and can be used for the business market as well.
"We are looking at it from a health and activity point of view," he explained. "So employees will be able to monitor their personal performance, and it can give signals about stress levels and even tell them when they need a rest."
He added that this ties in with businesses becoming more concerned with the welfare of their staff.
"There is this whole focus on wellbeing," he said. "As people, we try to take good care of our heath and we think that is a strong trend that is good for businesses."
Jabra was acquired by GN in 2000 and is now a brand of GN Netcom. Svendsen-Tune admitted that the start of 2015 was "soft", but that it recovered by the end of the year.
In 2015, reported revenue at GN - Jabra's parent firm - rose 14 per cent annually to DKK 8.4bn (£902m), according to a recently published results report.
Svendsen-Tune suggested that one of the reasons for the growth in its commercial business is the move to open-plan offices and remote working.
"[Open-plan offices] have challenges in that the noise levels will go up and people want to concentrate," he said. "We address that by bringing out headsets for people that are comfortable, have very good music quality and noise-cancelling capabilities. It is a very interesting business for us and for our partners."
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