Contracts hit right note for Simple Audio

A GLASGOW company behind a high- definition music player that uses the mains network in homes to distribute sound is targeting audiophiles as far afield as New Zealand after signing a string of sales contracts.

Simple Audio, which was founded by former executives from upmarket hi-fi brand Linn, will this month ship the first batches of its “affordable HD sound system” to dozens of dealers across the UK.

It is already projecting turnover of £4 million at the end of its first full year of sales, with that figure likely to rise to £7m-plus after three years.

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The firm has brushed aside concerns about the consumer slowdown in the Eurozone and will dispatch its first production units to mainland Europe. Having signed up with a distributor in New Zealand, it also has the lucrative Australasia market in its sights.

Simple Audio’s technology allows a listener to distribute high-quality sound throughout their home with the minimum of cabling and setting up.

The networked players are manufactured in Scotland and feature chips designed by Edinburgh-based Wolfson.

US-based competitor Sonos, whose multi-room players are pitched at a lower price point but lack some of the high-definition format support, has sold hundreds of thousands of units in more than 60 countries since it was founded in 2002.

Martin Dalgleish, Simple Audio’s commercial director, said the Scots firm was targeting the “premium mass market”.

“We were disappointed by the quality of what the other players out there did,” he said. “We wanted to be as sensibly priced as possible but give people all of the high-end capabilities and future-proofness. When 24-bit music downloads and files become more prevalent you can play them, which other systems cannot do.”

Dalgleish said the company planned to build up its international footprint, but described the US market as the “killing fields for high-end British audio”.

“America is not a market we are too fussed about at the moment. Europe is still a great place to be.”

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Managing director Peter Murphy said the firm was looking to become cashflow positive through revenues from sales, having secured two funding rounds of about £300,000 each in the run-up to launch.

He did not rule out further funding “if demand turns out to be much more than we are projecting”.