What Does 80 Years of JBL and 10 Years of Samsung-HARMAN Mean for Connected Audio?

Three milestones arrive together in 2026. JBL turns 80. Bowers & Wilkins marks 60. The Samsung-HARMAN partnership reaches its tenth year. Samsung Newsroom spoke with Dave Rogers, President of the Lifestyle Division, and Armin Prommersberger, Chief Technology Officer, both at HARMAN, about the values that have shaped the two audio brands and what lies ahead.

Two Brands, One Refusal to Compromise

JBL began in cinemas and studios. The 4310 studio monitor served professionals who needed critical listening. JBL then carried that professional audio DNA into the L100, bringing professional-grade sound into the home. The L100 went on to become the brand's best-selling loudspeaker. Bowers & Wilkins followed a different path. Its 801 loudspeaker became a reference monitor for engineers at Abbey Road Studios, the recording studio that has worked with some of the world's most celebrated artists. Different personalities. Same refusal to compromise on what matters. Sound evokes emotion, creates memories, and brings people together.

The Nautilus Lesson

Bowers & Wilkins had already made significant progress reducing unwanted vibration with Matrix cabinet technology. John Bowers and his research team questioned whether the cabinet itself was part of the problem. That question led to five years of research. The result was Nautilus, featuring a tapered-tube design to absorb unwanted sound from the back of the drive units. Good engineering is not only about solving problems. Sometimes it is about becoming uncomfortable with the solutions that have already made you successful. Curiosity drives the work.

Ten Years of Samsung and HARMAN

One of the earliest examples brought HARMAN's audio expertise into the Galaxy experience through AKG, a HARMAN company. The combination merged sound knowledge with Samsung's capabilities in mobile technology, design, and scale. The approach then broadened through the Automotive Digital Cockpit. That effort combined Samsung's strengths in displays and connected ecosystems with HARMAN's automotive and in-cabin expertise. The ambition was no longer simply to bring better technology into cars but to see them as part of people's connected lives. The teams learned to turn differences into strengths. Samsung has an extraordinary ability to turn ideas into technology that touches people's lives on an enormous scale. That mindset challenges HARMAN in a good way.

A Day With Fewer Seams

Imagine a typical day. You wake up and your Galaxy devices are ready to help you start. When you leave home and get into your car, the vehicle can adapt to your journey and the preferences you have chosen to share. Your audio experience continues naturally. Information is prioritized based on the situation while you are driving. The cabin adjusts to the people inside. On the way home, your car and home can work together to make the transition feel almost seamless. Users should not have to think about which app to open or which setting to change. They should simply feel that technology understands the flow of their day and gets out of the way. Technology should become more intelligent so the experience can become more human.

Where the Explanation Stops

The interview does not say how many JBL or Bowers & Wilkins products remain in active use. It does not disclose specific AI models or connectivity protocols that will power the next decade. Rogers and Prommersberger describe a direction, not a roadmap with dates. The boundary between today's devices and the envisioned connected day remains undefined in the conversation. Eighty years from now, people may not remember every technology launched. They will remember the experiences those technologies made possible.