Lee,
While sales aren't soaring, they have been steadily improving. Most of the shops that focus on custom install are doing well in my market. It's the stores that have not evolved away from a retail model that are shutting their doors or preparing to. Hoping to sell a walk-in customer on a BeoVision 10 or a BeoSound 5 is a losing prospect. Has nothing to do with value at all, but how the affluent shop. They may buy clothes and jewelry in a showroom, but anything that winds up installed in their homes is specified at the design level by their architect or interior designer. It's partnerships with those proxies that has allowed shops to thrive. I'll keep on preaching this even after the economy rebounds. A return to strong retail sales will be a bonus at that point.
Puncher,
I hear what you're saying and you're not wrong. Under KHN, though, we've been quicker to market (astonishingly so considering how backwards development used to be) and more efficient (i.e. the development of universal AV boards across multiple platforms) in our engineering. Not only are the new products finally leading in sales, but they're refreshed quicker than at any time in recent history. If old management was still at he helm I'd be very worried that any traction we made was simply happenstance and could vanish as easily as it appeared, but there is a clear and focused direction under KHN that everyone felt in DK a few months ago. The current lineup is the best I've ever seen it and truly competitive. The products being launched in the coming years are dynamite. Moreover the narrative that animates the portfolio is the tightest I've seen it. I don't think there's any chance of us losing the ground we've been gaining this past fiscal year. I know I'm not going to let it happen in my corner of the market.
And again, I really hope the new products cut the mustard.
To your earlier post reeling off the B&O benefits of integration, one remote etc. We've all seen in recent times (and discussed ad infinitum) other music systems that integrate the 'net and your LAN both over Ethernet and wirelessly and can play anything anywhere within your house. We've seen the rise of iTouch and iPad remote Apps and also dedicated two way remotes such as the Sonos and this particular Samsung, both with unique features but neither pretty nor particularly "high quality". We've seen this Samsung (and others from Panasonic, Sony etc) that have HD Freeview tuners, can connect and play video and audio content over the 'net or LAN by Ethernet of wirelessly from central media hubs. They update from the 'net automatically without a man having to come out (and be payed for the pleasure). They also control other compatible ancilliary equipment.
The point of all the above wiffle is that the applications are converging, everyone will have domestic networked music and video with one remote, it's inconceivable that it won't happen. I'm not advocating any of the above examples as the ideal solution, my point is that it will come soon and, as like as not, from a mainstream supplier. B&O are heading there too with their own Ethernet solution but the days of Masterlink standing alone as a market & technological leader in AV integration are all but over.
Their speakers stand out as their unique offering, many of them offering fantastic performance while some are even class leaders - exactly as it should be🤒
For the rest of the products (and the TV's in particular), given the above, I believe they may need to offer more in the future than smoked glass and mirror finished aluminium.
I hope folk don't take this as a critisism, they're just more reasons why I fear the ground is coming up to meet the B&O TV. If they manage to navigate around this and maintain their product line with new, class leading, innovative product then no one will be happier than I.
