B&O Issued a profits warning today, read more
Location: Hampshire, England
Thank you to our Sponsors
B&O Profits warning issued today
28 replies
I am not surpriced after all the problems they had with the Avant.
It sure has cost a lot of manpower/money.
Let us hope, that they recovered - and that the future results will be better.
The Avant seems to be a good selling product!
MM
Location: Flensborg————Danmark
12.5% share price drop today. Back where they were more than a year ago.
Still can't find the right position in the AV market. The Play products have too much competition.
Not sure about the Avant in the long term. The company had been there before with televisions with moving speakers. The art-on-the-wall or easel BV10 and BV11 design with upgraded panels should have given them the results they need on the TV side had they tweaked the price without dropping the long standng features like the accessories panel. The motorised stands, wall brackets and hinges should also be pushed for their unique wow factor.
Graham
Personally I'm not too worried. Some blood needs to be lost before the company gets stronger. It could have been worse... B&O has lumped a lot of cash into new products, the problems therein, launches and a shake up.
Play has a future, it just needs time and some tweaking. However, if you don't have any spare cash that becomes a problem!!
I don't get any bad vibes though. I'm sure Tue and his gang have plans.
Lee
My point of view Like I wrote many month ago, I think in future, Bang & Olufsen will be only a manufacturer of prestigious loudspeakers. They will stop the TV market. BeoPlay is in a difficult level. Prices are too high for products "Made in China". They have either many products returns. The concurrence is very strong.Bang & Olufsen continue to progress strongly in the audio automobile business. That is a very good point. 🙂
TVs are almost a commodity now as are many domestic esentials; not expected to last both functionally or in size/spec. Speakers alone now use apple products to drive them . What's left for B&O to get their markups ? The ability to have neat installations ....
The only area the company are strong in is loudspeaker technology.They need to put all their efforts into that area but the majority of the shops should close. 15-20 company owned shops in the UK should suffice for such a niche area.The share price is on the floor. No other company has survived such a crash in share price to be valued just 5% of where it was 7 years ago.Tue’s plan is in tatters. Hard to see how he can survive the January quarterly update.Year after year production seems to be the problem. A high level production manager/director is the only answer.
It's an incredibly hard one this! How could they survive if they just make loudspeakers? Having had a life working in radio & broadcast, I haven't come across many who could afford to spend that amount of money on loudspeakers - especially now with the iPhone & smartphone generation. I finally saw the BL18 speakers in London last week and yes, they are the most beautiful looking speakers that i've ever seen. Just beautiful. But again, i'd need to be a millionaire to afford them. I can't think of many professionals that are starting families who would be able to afford these. Maybe B&O's only future is in the pink pound!
Tue seems to be working really really hard and yet everything seems to go under. But, I certainly don't think that's Tues fault - although I do blame him for destroying B&O's heritage by having their expensive kit made in China. To me, that killed it. B&O is Made in Denmark HENCE the HUGE prices! But, I bought an A8 (£589) which I love the look of. But I feel for Tue and I reckon, that this most be the hardest job that he's ever had in his life. Certainly the £5bilion profit that he forecast with 5 years was a little inaccurate or maybe arrogant.
I also agree with Vikinger with regards to BV10/BV11 just incredible designs - although David Lewis design shouldn't really be congratulated on this - it's a Marc Rothko painting design. Avant not a fan - cheap looking for me.
I hope the Play range continues to evolve. Maybe we'll see a BL6000 update like we did in the BL18 for the 8000. Anyway, always a real interesting read year after year.
I notice that the beoplay at its launch was very criticized here and finally a lot of b&o lovers have bought at least one (a9. A3, a8, v1..)Even if the competition is fierce they should continue to invest in this range but again there should be a premium advantage to buy a pure bang olufsen product.An a8 with better features than a beosound 8 and a S8 with the same number of amp than a beolab 14, that´s only commercial suicide.I am convinced that the v1 range could be a huge success if the design was more conventional.The brand absolutey needs to be more visible, the beoplay range is really good for that (originality, different outlets, lower prices ...).
I agree with Lee. Tue has done a great job considering the challenge. Everyone seems to forget how deep the recession was. Many countries are still having monetary problems. With upward trend of many Western and Asian economies, things should improve at Bang and Olufsen. The significant drop in oil prices will certainly help in the EU and North America.
I think B&O may have a great future.
Please Log In to Reply
You must be logged in as a BeoWorld member to post replies to forum threads.
or
Join BeoWorld
Register to access the forums, reference material, and exclusive member benefits — including our monthly prize draw.
Become a Member