Luggage seller Samsonite buys device case maker Speck for $85 million

In its first non-luggage acquisition, Samsonite announced thursday that it is buying Speck products, maker of cases for a wide variety of mobile devices, for $85 million (via re/code).

NPD estimates say that Speck is within the top four case manufacturers, sitting next to companies like Otter, Incipio, and Belkin. As smartphones keep getting thinner and more fragile, these companies will assumably continue to grow as one of the biggest reasons consumers buy these cases is for protection and preservation of their expensive handsets.

Tom Korbas said that this acquisition gives the luggage-case maker an opportunity to partake in this growing smartphone-case market.

The acquisition offers Samsonite the opportunity to participate in the large and growing smartphone-case market, which in the U.S. alone is estimated to be worth $2.3 billion, as well as in the tablet-case market, where Speck is also a leader.

Speck has been selling cases for Apple, Samsung, LG, Google, and HTC hardware for quite some time, but supposedly had a hard 2013 as the market became flooded with counterfeit cases and cheaper alternatives from overseas (which can be purchased for as little as $1 on Amazon). Korbas says, however, that this setback is only temporary:

Although Speck experienced a temporary setback in 2013 from its historically strong results when the business was impacted by an industry-wide overhang in inventory from 2012, efforts to restructure the business are already well underway.

Many of Speck’s products make appearances in Airport vending machines and stores right next to Samsonite luggage, making this acquisition seemingly a great fit.