Prior to Dr. Johansson’s 11-year tenure as CEO, he served as Dirac’s Chief Technology Officer, where he managed the development of the company’s core technologies and products that served as the bedrock of its growth since company inception. The realignment announced today effectively enables Dr. Johansson to return full time to his first love — technology and product.
"After having gone through a rapid expansion phase and with growing momentum in a wide range of industries, I felt that the CEO role needs a different skillset and experience base to leverage all the opportunities. I also felt I wanted to devote my energy and passion full-time to our product strategy, for the very same reasons," states Dr. Mathias Johansson.
"The consumer audio industry is at an inflection point, as audio evolves from a niche, secondary product feature to a core differentiator and enabling technology; headphones are becoming more sophisticated, home audio is proliferating, and new product categories such as hearables are emerging. Peter’s deep experience in commercial intellectual asset strategy evolves our executive team’s expertise to ensure we’re ideally positioned to capture this momentum and maintain our leadership position in the audio industry for years to come."
Friedrichsen has previously served as CEO of myFC AB (publ), Bergenstråhle Group, TAC Svenska AB, and MaxMove Group, among others. He is a proven executive leading innovation-driven scale-ups with experience from a broad range of industries. He also has significant experience in the vehicle industry, with Scania, and licensing businesses, like Dirac, where he led the IP consultancy company Bergenstråhle & Partners to double-digit growth year-over-year.
"Dirac has a deep portfolio of IP and has spearheaded some of the industry’s most significant breakthroughs in audio, digital signal processing and artificial intelligence; their body of work and contributions to the field of audio have quite literally shaped how the world experiences sound," stated Friedrichsen. "Based on my experience in commercializing Intellectual Assets; Dirac, together with our strategic partners and customers, possesses a unique advantage in defining the future of audio both today and for years to come."
The appointment of Friedrichsen comes off an impressive year for Dirac, where the company grew over 40% despite the global pandemic and established several notable new partnerships with brands such as BYD in the automotive space, ASUS in mobile and computing, and Klipsch in headphones.
Commenting on the new realignment, Johan Sedihn, Chairman of Dirac’s Board of Directors, noted that, “Under Mathias’ leadership as CEO, the company has grown by a factor of 24 and established itself as one of the most well-respected names in audio. Now, as Chief Product Officer, combined with Peter’s arrival as CEO, we’re ensuring that the company is well-positioned to continue to capitalize on the audio industry trends shaping the tech sector. Dirac’s best years undoubtedly lie ahead."
Based in Sweden, Dirac optimizes digital audio, perfecting sound for better listening in any environment. Dirac's patented sound solutions span across mobile, gaming, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality, headphones, streaming, automotive, residential and commercial AV. For professionals, Dirac produces the industry’s most powerful suite of audio tools for signal processing and optimizations. The company does business with some of the world’s most respected brands, including Rolls Royce, Volvo, Polestar, BMW, BYD, Harman, Datasat, NAD, ASUS and OPPO. As well as headquarters in Uppsala, Sweden, Dirac has offices in Shenzhen, Beijing and Shanghai, China; a Research & Development facility in Copenhagen, Denmark; and representation in Germany, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and USA.
www.dirac.com
