Teenage Engineering Plans to Stop Making Synthesizers, Including Its Iconic OP-1

Teenage Engineering, the Swedish design company behind some of electronic music’s most distinctive instruments, is planning to stop making synthesizers.Founder and CEO Jesper Kouthoofd disclosed the plan in an interview with Highsnobiety, revealing that he informed employees during a company reorganization.

Even the OP-1, the portable synthesizer that helped establish Teenage Engineering’s reputation following its 2011 launch, is part of that vision.Kouthoofd said he had concluded that “the products aren’t the business,” adding, “We can be so much more than that.” It’s a striking prospect for a company whose experimental approach to music hardware has earned a devoted following.

Its catalog includes the OP-1 Field, the OP-XY synthesizer and sequencer, the miniature Pocket Operators, and the EP-133 K.O.II sampler.

As EDM.com previously highlighted, Teenage Engineering has also developed a choir of wooden singing dolls and a portable machine capable of cutting vinyl records.The company has long operated beyond conventional music gear.

Its design projects include the Playdate handheld gaming console and a collaboration with IKEA on home audio products, so this would not be the first time their ambitions have extended beyond the studio.For now, the plan raises as many questions as it answers about the future of one of electronic music’s most unconventional hardware makers.

The interview does, however, describe unreleased prototypes at the company’s Stockholm headquarters, including a project he believes could reshape people’s lives online.“Some of this won’t be released for five to 10 years,” Kouthoofd said, offering few specifics about what could replace synthesizers.

Crucially, he did not disclose when synth production would end or what the transition would mean for existing devices.Scroll to continue more from edm “It Changes My Future:” How AHEE Discovered Deeper Creative Freedom With Rekordbo...