Focusrite Buys Sequential

[LPF83]

https://www.musicradar.com/news/focusrite-buys-sequential-taking-ownership-of-dave-smiths-analogue-synths

[LoboLives]

Wonder if that means they are going to move production from USA to China.

[DavidDever]

Congratulations to the Sequential team–all corporate changes aside, this seems like a great next step for a company that has been a solid advocate for innovative, yet musician-centered product design.

[LoboLives]

Personally I'd like to see Sequential have a budget line and a high end line. Perhaps this might be a good way to do that.

[Sacred Synthesis]

Ah well, at least it's not Behringer that's buying Sequential.

[IsoldeandIsobelle]

It did Novation no harm... quite the opposite, in fact. Best Wishes to Dave and his team in going forward.

[LPF83]

Wonder if that means they are going to move production from USA to China.

It could happen, although lately there's a new awareness of the risks of dependency on China, that may make this less tempting than in the past.

Also many companies are aware that changing a newly acquired subsidiary itself is risky -- too many changes can diminish the value of the brand they paid for.

Ah well, at least it's not Behringer that's buying Sequential.

That was the first thought that came to mind for me too.

[LPF83]

It did Novation no harm... quite the opposite, in fact. Best Wishes to Dave and his team in going forward.

My hunch is that it is probably a good move for Dave and the team overall.  When Dave's 70th birthday came around, I wondered what the long-term plan would be, and in many ways this seems like a logical next step.

[LoboLives]

Wonder if that means they are going to move production from USA to China.

It could happen, although lately there's a new awareness of the risks of dependency on China, that may make this less tempting than in the past.

Also many companies are aware that changing a newly acquired subsidiary itself is risky -- too many changes can diminish the value of the brand they paid for.

Ah well, at least it's not Behringer that's buying Sequential.

That was the first thought that came to mind for me too.

Personally I'd hate to see Sequential move their entire production to China. It reminds me of when Sequential had a deal with Italian organ maker Seil in which they made budget products under the Sequential Circuits banner.

http://www.vintagesynth.com/sci/prelude.php

http://www.vintagesynth.com/sci/fugue.php

[LoboLives]

Sequential responded to me on Facebook when I asked about them moving production to China.

"...Sequential’s day-to-day operations and product development remain unchanged and will continue to be guided by Dave Smith and his team."

That doesn't say anything about production or manufacturing itself. When Focusrite brought Novation manufacturing was outsourced to China with obviously R&D and the day to day stuff remaining in the UK

[LPF83]

Sequential responded to me on Facebook when I asked about them moving production to China.

"...Sequential’s day-to-day operations and product development remain unchanged and will continue to be guided by Dave Smith and his team."

That doesn't say anything about production or manufacturing itself. When Focusrite brought Novation manufacturing was outsourced to China with obviously R&D and the day to day stuff remaining in the UK

What can happen in these cases (and I hope it doesn't), is the parent company says "we don't want to introduce product X, because our marketing team sees overlap between that design and product Y that our other subsidiary just released".  Not that product cannibalism isn't a valid concern, but sometimes small company independence and innovation gets lost to overall corporate strategy.

Hopefully they stay hands off enough to let Sequential continue doing what they are doing.

[LoboLives]

Sequential responded to me on Facebook when I asked about them moving production to China.

"...Sequential’s day-to-day operations and product development remain unchanged and will continue to be guided by Dave Smith and his team."

That doesn't say anything about production or manufacturing itself. When Focusrite brought Novation manufacturing was outsourced to China with obviously R&D and the day to day stuff remaining in the UK

What can happen in these cases (and I hope it doesn't), is the parent company says "we don't want to introduce product X, because our marketing team sees overlap between that design and product Y that our other subsidiary just released".  Not that product cannibalism isn't a valid concern, but sometimes small company independence and innovation gets lost to overall corporate strategy.

Hopefully they stay hands off enough to let Sequential continue doing what they are doing.

That's another good point. Sequential could try and produce something and they might say "Well it's a bit too similar to Novation's upcoming product."

[Sacred Synthesis]

I can't help but wonder what a Summit might have done to a Prophet 12.  It's hard not to see the former as a threat to the latter, and so on into the future.  I hope Novation doesn't badly affect Sequential's innovation. 

[LoboLives]

I can't help but wonder what a Summit might have done to a Prophet 12.  It's hard not to see the former as a threat to the latter, and so on into the future.  I hope Novation doesn't badly affect Sequential's innovation. 

It is weird to to have two brands under a single umbrella making essentially competitive products. Maybe Sequential will be analog only from now on and Novation will offer digital/analog hybrids or pure digital synths?

[Sacred Synthesis]

I can't help but wonder what a Summit might have done to a Prophet 12.  It's hard not to see the former as a threat to the latter, and so on into the future.  I hope Novation doesn't badly affect Sequential's innovation. 

It is weird to to have two brands under a single umbrella making essentially competitive products. Maybe Sequential will be analog only from now on and Novation will offer digital/analog hybrids or pure digital synths?

That itself would be a terrible effect, since Sequential is brilliant at hybrid instruments.  Haven't many of us been hoping for something of a Poly Evolver Rev2?

[LoboLives]

I can't help but wonder what a Summit might have done to a Prophet 12.  It's hard not to see the former as a threat to the latter, and so on into the future.  I hope Novation doesn't badly affect Sequential's innovation. 

It is weird to to have two brands under a single umbrella making essentially competitive products. Maybe Sequential will be analog only from now on and Novation will offer digital/analog hybrids or pure digital synths?

That itself would be a terrible effect, since Sequential is brilliant at hybrid instruments.  Haven't many of us been hoping for something of a Poly Evolver Rev2?

Now that might not happen.

Actually I even wonder if Sequential itself will just be focusing on reissues. Prophet 5, OBX, Pro One, Prophet T8 etc and Novation will be the one developing new stuff. That might be the only way they realistically could operate under the same umbrella.

[Sacred Synthesis]

Well, Sequential always has new products on the way, and the nearest ones presumably haven't been developed under the watch of Novation, so we can rest easy for a while.

[LoboLives]

Well, Sequential always has new products on the way, and the nearest ones presumably haven't been developed under the watch of Novation, so we can rest easy for a while.

Dave said the next two instruments are analog so I'm assuming OBX and Pro One reissues.

[AlanC]

Let's hope Focusrite's ownership of Sequential is as benign as Yamaha's ownership of Bösendorfer.

Regarding Novation, their designer Chris Huggett, who also designed the EDP Wasp, OSC Oscar and was responsible for the operating systems of the Akai S-series samplers as well as the various Novation synths, sadly passed away in October 2020.

[Sacred Synthesis]

Novation has been able to produce a few respectable and original instruments, in spite of being owned by a monolith.  Hopefully, the same will be true for Sequential, and Dave will be able to maintain an independence.  But it's hard not to be a tad concerned that corporate interests will play a larger part in Sequential's day-to-day operation - more so than they ever before have.