The end could be nigh for the iconic OP-1 according to a Highsnobiety interview.
The end could be nigh for the iconic OP-1 according to a Highsnobiety interview.
by
Oct 7, 2026, 9:19 PM UTC
Photo by Terrence O’Brien / The Verge
is the Verge’s weekend editor. He’s covered the tech industry for complete 18 years and knows a item or two concerning synths.
Teenage Engineering originator and CEO Jesper Kouthoofd told Highsnobiety that it plans to halt making synths. And yes, that includes the iconic OP-1, which put the business on the map. TE isn’t fair a music equipment maker; it’s additionally a sought-after scheme firm. It’s collaborated alongside Ikea, Nothing, and Playdate, among others. But nearly everything the business makes itself — the OP-1, the OP-XY, EP-133, TP-7, et cetera — is music or audio-focused. Which makes the expected decision to forsake the market all the additional confusing.
Here’s the applicable citation from Highsnobiety:
Kouthoofd tells me that, as part of a reorganization final fall, he announced to his squad he is preparedness to halt making synthesizers altogether. The OP-1 is no exception. Launched in 2011, it put Teenage Engineering on the map and has been chief to its achievement always since.
“Everyone was like, ‘What are you talking about?’ But I’ve arrive to the decision that, for us, the products aren’t the business,” Kouthoofd says. “We can be so much additional than that.”
Teenage Engineering did not immediately come back a petition for comment.
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