Keyboards: Corsair Gaming buys Drop

Corsair Gaming acquires “certain assets” of California-based Drop (formerly Massdrop). Drop was founded in 2012 by Canadians Steve El-Hage and Nelson Wu at a nerd hostel as an online community shopping website – a sales model known as power shopping or co-shopping in Germany during the dot-com bubble which was to That aggregate orders from different consumers bring volume discounts. Meanwhile, Drop’s business model is shifting more and more toward private label brands of headphones, cables, mechanical keyboards, and other input devices that aren’t exactly cheap.

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The Drops’ primary target group is PC gamers, which fits nicely with Corsair’s strategy. Drops’ biggest source of revenue is mechanical keyboards, which customers can adapt to their own needs and design ideas, as well as accessories to modify keyboards from other manufacturers. “Personalized keyboards that can be customized by consumers themselves are one of the fastest growing trends in gaming peripherals,” said Andy Paul, CEO of Corsair. On the contrary, he would like to make products from the Corsair and Elgato brands that are palatable to existing customers.

brand package

Corsair Gaming Corporation was founded in 1994 as Corsair Microsystems. In addition to mechanical keyboards, Corsair’s product range includes, for example, computer cases, power supplies, processor coolers, SSDs, RAM, and speakers. In 2018, Corsair acquired Munich-based Elgato Gaming (excluding its home automation division), and in 2019 Origin PC and SCUF Gaming. Corsair continues to carry these brands, which should be the case with the Drop.

Drop will continue to be a brand, team and community within Corsair. Promises to drop CEO Jeff Holof, which also announces new products without specifying. Plus, thanks to Corsair’s proprietary supply chain, Drop will be able to offer private label products more reliably. Especially for customers outside the USA, ordering will be easier and cheaper.

Hulloff has already said goodbye to the business idea of ​​power shopping. Corsair’s relationships should help it stock its own brand products without tying up a lot of capital. The two companies do not comment on financial details, nor what parts Drops Corsair does not buy.

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