How Bose compete with AirPods — and why it’s in more cars than ever, with CEO Lila Snyder

Decoder with Nilay Patel

Vox Media Podcast Network

Technology, Business

4.3 • 3.2K Ratings

🗓️ 29 November 2022

⏱️ 80 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Bose is one of the most recognizable audio brands in the world: it was famous for the Wave radio in the 80s, it invented noise cancellation, you can see its logo on NFL sidelines every Sunday, and of course there are the popular consumer products like the QuietComfort headphones that reviewers like Chris Welch here at The Verge rate as some of the best in the game. Bose is in tons of cars as well: audio systems in GM, Honda, Hyundai, Porsche, and more are developed and tuned by Bose. Bose was founded in 1964 by Dr. Amar Bose, who donated a majority of the shares of the company to MIT, where he was a professor. That means to this day, Bose is a private company with no pressure to go public. However, Bose still has to compete against big tech in talent, products, and compatibility. So today I’m talking to Bose CEO Lila Snyder about Bose’s dependence on platform vendors like Apple and Google, how she thinks about standards like Bluetooth, and where she thinks she can compete and win against AirPods and other products that get preferential treatment on phones. Links: Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II review: noise cancellation domination How Amar Bose used research to build better speakers List of Bose shelf stereos Hearing Aids | FDA Digital signal processor Functional organization Bose names its first female CEO as wait continues for new products Amar Bose ’51 makes stock donation to MIT Meta announces huge job cuts affecting 11,000 employees Amazon mass layoffs will reportedly ax 10,000 people this week Elon Musk demands Twitter employees commit to ‘extremely hardcore’ culture or leave The iPhone 7 has no headphone jack Bluetooth Special Interest Group Qualcomm Partners with Meta and Bose Bose gets into hearing aid business with new FDA-cleared SoundControl hearing aids Over-the-counter hearing aids could blur the line with headphones New Bose-Lexie Hearing Aid to Enter the Over-the-Counter Market Lexie Partners with Bose to Offer Lexie B1 Powered by Bose Hearing Aids Bose Frames Tempo review: the specs to beat Bose discontinues its niche Sport Open Earbuds BMW starts selling heated seat subscriptions for $18 a month Seven CEOs and one secretary of transportation on the future of cars Why Amazon VP Steve Boom just made the entire music catalog free with Prime Transcript: https://www.theverge.com/e/23246668 Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. It was produced by Creighton DeSimone and Jackie McDermott and it was edited by Callie Wright. The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Our Editorial Director is Brooke Minters and our Executive Director is Eleanor Donovan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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0:00.0	Support for this episode comes from Cover Genius. The insure tech for embedded insurance
0:05.8	that is changing the insurance landscape finally. With a simple API integration, Cover Genius
0:11.4	enables digital companies to distribute any line of insurance or warranty to customers
0:15.8	in all 50 states and in more than 60 countries. Available at Amazon, Intuit, Flipkart, Booking.com
0:22.3	and more, Cover Genius's platform embeds global protection to customers for any online transaction,
0:28.6	whether purchasing from one of the world's largest retailers, Fintech's online travel agencies
0:32.8	or banks or signing up for loans, pet insurance or contract work, Cover Genius ensures that
0:38.0	relevant protection is in place. Happy your customers? Unlocked growth. It's insurance
0:42.8	the way insurance should be. Visit covergenius.com slash box today to learn more.
0:51.2	This episode is sponsored by Code Commons, an original podcast from Red Hat. Post-Burf Sutter
0:56.5	is a Red Hatter and Life-Long Developer Advocate and Community Organizer. In each episode,
1:02.0	Burfs sits down with experienced technologists from across the industry to trade stories
1:07.1	and talk about what they've learned from their experiences. Hopefully, you'll be able to
1:12.1	pick up some helpful knowledge too, because there's a lot of work required to bring a project
1:17.2	from Whiteboard to development and none of us can do it alone.
1:21.6	Those are available anywhere you listen to podcasts and at Red Hat.com slash Code Commons
1:26.8	podcast. Search for code comments in your podcast player. Thanks to Code Commons for their support.
1:32.5	Hello and welcome to Decoder. I'm Neil Apital, Editor and Chief of the Verge and Decoder
1:38.3	is my show about big ideas. Other brands. Today I'm talking to Lyla Snyder, she's the CEO
1:44.9	of Burfs. Now, Burfs is one of the most recognizable audio brands in the world. It's famous for
1:50.2	the wave radio in the 80s when I was a kid. It invented noise cancellation. You can see
1:55.1	it's logo on NFL sidelines every Sunday. And of course, there are the extremely popular
	...

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