By comparison to Apple, Sennheiser is both small and undercapitalized. And the more "boutique" suppliers are much more so. In Apple's fiscal 4th quarter alone:

By comparison to Apple, Sennheiser is both small and undercapitalized. And the more "boutique" suppliers are much more so. In Apple's fiscal 4th quarter alone: 4Q 2020 revenue: $64.7B 4Q 2020 capital returned to shareholders: $22B And for Apple's fiscal year: 2020 revenue: $274.5B 2020 R&D: $18.8B So Apple spent more than 19x Sennheiser's 2019 revenue in R&D this year.