Turtle Beach Corporation, headquartered in San Diego, California is the global
leader in gaming headsets and has been an innovator in premier audio technology
for over 40 years. The Turtle Beach® brand is highly regarded among the
over 700 million gamers in North America and Europe where the company has a
dominant market share in gaming headsets for Xbox and PlayStation® consoles.
In addition to its gaming headset business, the company acquired and developed
an innovative and patent-protected sound technology that delivers immersive,
directional audio called HyperSound® via a reverse merger with Parametric
Technologies in January 2014.
Turtle Beach launched its first gaming headset in 2005 and has grown to be
the leading brand in console gaming headsets. The Company designs and markets
premium audio peripherals for both Xbox and PlayStation® game consoles,
as well as for PC, Mac® and mobile/tablet devices. Additionally, Turtle
Beach is an officially-licensed partner of Microsoft, delivering innovative
and groundbreaking first-to-market products for their latest family of consoles
including the latest Xbox One X. Turtle Beach headsets are distributed internationally
across North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Australia,
and Asia, and are sold at thousands of storefronts, including major retailers
such as Amazon, Argos, Best Buy, Game, GameStop, EB Games, Target, and Walmart.
The Company offers a variety of headsets, spanning multiple retail price points
ranging from $20 to $300, with offerings compatible across all major gaming
platforms. Our price tiers correspond to customer profiles, beginning with “Entry-Level”
gamers and progressing through “Casual,” “Enthusiast,”
“Core,” and professional gamers including eSports players and fans.
Each successive price tier incorporates a higher level of finish, features and
technology, progressing from passive mono to amplified stereo, surround sound,
and programmable surround sound. Premium headsets have padded leather headbands,
accent stitching, and noise-isolating memory foam ear cups. Other features found
in select premium headset models include removable microphones, breakaway cables
and “charge-and-play” batteries that allow gamers to continue playing
even as they recharge their batteries. As gaming consoles have evolved from
dedicated video game platforms to home entertainment hubs, and as mobile and
tablet devices have become mainstay platforms for entertainment, we have continued
to evolve our headsets to reflect how content is consumed.
Each Turtle Beach headset is designed for a “primary” platform,
such as a specific console or for the personal computer platform, though many
can be used with multiple platforms, and most are compatible with mobile/tablet
devices via a standard 3.5mm jack and Bluetooth® connectivity. A primary
platform designation paired with our unique, platform-specific packaging designs
often result in our products being assorted in multiple sections in-store by
retailers, increasing the prominence of the Turtle Beach brand and its products
in physical retail locations and online catalogs.
HyperSound Business
HyperSound technology is a pioneering audio solution that projects sound in
a highly directional manner. HyperSound directs a beam of audio to targeted
listeners in a specific spot, delivering an immersive, 3D-like audio experience
as well as benefits for people with hearing loss. The Company has also developed
and patented the capability to created directed audio from a transparent “speaker”
using a set of layered materials on glass. The technology has applications in
multiple verticals including retail displays where isolated audio is desired,
personal or business audio where a directed beam of audio offers privacy benefits,
and living room audio solutions for people with hearing loss.
Gaming Headset Market
Gaming headsets are part of a global, growing gaming market sized at over $100
billion. Global gaming now exceeds both global cinema and global music market
sizes with over 2.1 billion active gamers worldwide. Gaming peripherals are
a $2 billion business globally with over 75%, over $800 million, of that market
in the Americas and Europe where the company’s business is focused. Gaming
headsets are nearly half of that, at over $1 billion in global market size.
eSports is a global phenomena where professional gamers train, compete, win
prize money and attract fans similar to other professional sports. There are
over 140 million eSports enthusiasts globally and growing quickly. Gaming headsets
are a must-have piece of equipment for competitive gaming.
Xbox and PlayStation® consoles are the dominant gaming platforms in North
America and Europe. Many gamers play online where gaming headsets - which include
a microphone and allow players to communicate with one another in real time
- provide the ability to jump in and engage in the industry’s most popular
games and franchises. Gaming headsets also create a more immersive and rich
gaming experience. In addition to consoles, personal computers are a key platform
for gaming and utilize similar style headsets with the requisite benefits. Gaming
on mobile/tablet devices represents about a third of the global gaming market
and headsets can be used for mobile gaming, but Xbox, PlayStation®, and
PC gaming are by far the largest drivers of gaming headset use. Nintendo Switch™
has emerged as a popular gaming platform, although much less of a driver of
gaming headset sales.
4.38%