Bentleyman wrote:

I wouldn't start trying to get clever if I were you. You're really not gonna get very far with that 'strategy'

Nothing clever about it. Just an observation.

linder wrote:

Moxxey, Are you implying that all of us Beoworlders who went to the B&O store and bought a Beolit 12 this week without a demo are over 35?

Where was that implied linder?

Linder, the Beolit 12 is one of the first products as part of the new B&O Play strategy to target the younger generation, which is why it's in the Apple Stores. To meet that demand, B&O have to mass manufacture, which is why they chose China. We've heard Tue himself say that B&O need to be able to fulfil demand presented through the Apple Stores which is a reason we're having this discussion. Old school B&O enthusiasts may not like it, but the Play direction is to try and bring in a new audience, a new breed of custom. Custom that will, potentially move up to other B&O products.

We all know that once you start buying B&O, you end up buying more B&O. That's what B&O are trying to do with Play.

The problem that B&O have now is that there are not enough old-school "don't need to question the price" customers who will service their future. There are fewer people walking in to their stores to purchase BV7s, without thinking through the purchasing decision. People are getting more clued up, people are starting to look around and see competitor products (TVs etc) with an equally impressive picture, for a fifth of the price. Those competitors just get cheaper, and cheaper.

The situation will be far worse in five years time and this is why B&O are attempting to address it via Play and the forthcoming low-end Beovision 13 or whatever it will be called. No doubt manufactured in China!

The whole discussion is going way off target as we're now assuming other, more expensive, products will be outsourced. We're assuming it's some kind of slippery slope. Just getting ahead of ourselves.

B&O need to address a difference audience, a younger audience, they need to produce more product and more quickly, to do that they've gone with the Chinese mass-manufactured option.

Some people won't like it, but these people don't really get on with me either, it appears :)

bayerische wrote:

While these might be great little products they are not on par with what the brand stands for. These are "petty" products. We need fireworks, like the BL5!

Well, there's a new speaker that will sit above the BL5 later this year.

moxxey wrote:

linder wrote:

Moxxey, Are you implying that all of us Beoworlders who went to the B&O store and bought a Beolit 12 this week without a demo are over 35?

Where was that implied linder?

Linder, the Beolit 12 is one of the first products as part of the new B&O Play strategy to target the younger generation, which is why it's in the Apple Stores. To meet that demand, B&O have to mass manufacture, which is why they chose China. We've heard Tue himself say that B&O need to be able to fulfil demand presented through the Apple Stores which is a reason we're having this discussion. Old school B&O enthusiasts may not like it, but the Play direction is to try and bring in a new audience, a new breed of custom. Custom that will, potentially move up to other B&O products.

We all know that once you start buying B&O, you end up buying more B&O. That's what B&O are trying to do with Play.

The problem that B&O have now is that there are not enough old-school "don't need to question the price" customers who will service their future. There are fewer people walking in to their stores to purchase BV7s, without thinking through the purchasing decision. People are getting more clued up, people are starting to look around and see competitor products (TVs etc) with an equally impressive picture, for a fifth of the price. Those competitors just get cheaper, and cheaper.

The situation will be far worse in five years time and this is why B&O are attempting to address it via Play and the forthcoming low-end Beovision 13 or whatever it will be called. No doubt manufactured in China!

The whole discussion is going way off target as we're now assuming other, more expensive, products will be outsourced. We're assuming it's some kind of slippery slope. Just getting ahead of ourselves.

B&O need to address a difference audience, a younger audience, they need to produce more product and more quickly, to do that they've gone with the Chinese mass-manufactured option.

Some people won't like it, but these people don't really get on with me either, it appears :)

Sorry moxxey.  I was being facetious.  I do get it and believe they should be going faster but I know they have limitations as in any business.  Products that are IOS and iTunes compatible are well over an annual 2 billion USD business.  Heritage is nothing more than a fancy marketing ploy in many cases. Consumers often know when they are being duped by a logo or a brand name.  For Bang and Olufsen, their brand is important as long as there is quality that underpins the brand.  The Beolit 12 is good quality at the right price.

I do think there was a Beoworld effect a few days ago.  How come so many people bought the Beolit 12 so quickly?  It wasn't like a new Apple product introduction but they sold quickly.  Maybe the marketing is better than I thought.

moxxey wrote:

bayerische wrote:

While these might be great little products they are not on par with what the brand stands for. These are "petty" products. We need fireworks, like the BL5!

Well, there's a new speaker that will sit above the BL5 later this year.

I was so busy typing a response, I missed that one.  I'll demo that one first.  Thanks for the news.

moxxey wrote:

Bentleyman wrote:

I wouldn't start trying to get clever if I were you. You're really not gonna get very far with that 'strategy'

Nothing clever about it. Just an observation.

FYI moxxey I lived & worked in London and St. Albans, Hertfordshire for a number of years between 1996 to 2005. I bought numerous properties in those locations during the late 1990's. As you know, the UK property market was shooting into the stratosphere during that period. I then sold them all by 2006 😁

Financially, I did alright, if you know what I mean 😕

I had a couple of years living in Sweden before returning to the Rochdale area (which is where i'm originally from) but dont worry I could move anywhere I pleased, and at any time too.

I now live in a property which would cost probably close on a million quid in London (or indeed in Bath) but it cost me a fraction of that up here...as I was in a position to pay cash, I dont pay any mortgage or any rent of course.

Now, I dont know your circumstances, but i'll wager you either pay a ridiculously high mortgage or a equally ridiculous rent being a mid 30's guy living in Bath.

If you're paying a mortgage, it's not the best of times to be in the market, and it doesnt look good for the forseeable future either.(as i'm sure you're aware of) Some commentators are talking about a 25% correction in UK property prices, especially in the southern counties. Even if your property is currently holding it's value, it's a long, long way from the huge annual increases that I enjoyed in the late 90's and early 2000's in the south east.

Now, with the benefit of hindsight, your comment about not taking me seriously with a username of Bentleyman because I'm currently living in Rochdale doesnt seem very clever, now that I've filled you in on a few facts,  does it?

Apologies to all others that this post is nothing to do with this thread, but when you get a smart-ars e trying to be funny when he dont know the facts, you just got to set the Beogram straight once in a while 😕

Bentleyman,

I know your story!

10%

(aka Astonman from Oldham)

Dkatz wrote:

 

 

Nickeyg63 – I would disagree that the gap in superiority has diminished. They are not charging that much more for many products as they were in the early 90s as I demonstrated earlier in this post. Look at some of the prices of a Beosound Ouverture and the Beosound 3200, not that much more expensive, especially calculating inflation into it... I think it is a great price for a great product! The problem is obviously many people think it's too expensive but I certainly don't.

 

 

Where I am coming from is, when i had my avant dvd it was far superior than any other crt tv on the market!  Now when i take a look around john lewis the gap that was once there has deminished!  The quality of a top end samsung tv for £700 is as good as a bv7-40, If it wasnt for masterlink I think I would buy one!!  I find it hard to justify £10k for a bv7-40 I know that its finished better and includes a dvd/br but seriously lets say £8k difference.

You used beosound 3200/3000 as an example, lets say with speakers you are looking at £3k-£4k new??  I know for that you can get a far better sounding hi-fi!  But the reason why we are here is that B&O are also lifestyle products that are different and for me a talking point when people come over,  I think that B&O are diversifying and for a company that is very brave!  I hope they get good results from these products, so they continue to produce amazing products for us.  They need people to be brand aware, and say one day these people may buy a bv7 or equivelant.  

Why on this forum do we continue to knock their sales strategy, I want B&O to live long and strong.  Ok so we understand that some of the new stuff isnt to everyones tastes, thats life lets get used to it and embrace that they are trying to sell products to more people.  I dont have a business degree but I am sure that is an excellent business ethic?  

Ok so the brand is producing products made in china, thats a brave decision that ensures people in denmark are still in jobs!!  The brand has been through a tough few years, I love to see my local showroom alive with people looking and admiring the products.  Moxxey is right the bs8 is great for the price and it is still a premium product as its higher priced than any of its rivals, now if they sold it for £199 maybe they would be cheapening the brand.

We are all here because we love B&O, so lets not criticise the fact they are trying to survive by diversifying!! In my book its diverify or die!! People who can spend £15k for a tv are few and far between!

I love how these threads degenerate into I've got more money than you crap. BORING.

I also seem to recall that Bentley's are now all just tarted up VW's. I gess some people have more money than sense.

I also recall how b&o have been farming out production for years - didn't those awful plasticky beocentres of the 80's and 90's come from Japan ?

Bentleyman wrote:

Now, with the benefit of hindsight, your comment about not taking me seriously with a username of Bentleyman because I'm currently living in Rochdale doesnt seem very clever, now that I've filled you in on a few facts,  does it?

Well, you assumed those "facts", didn't you? No, I'm not paying a ridiculous amount for anything, having moved down here from the North East. I came down here in 2000, been in the same place in centre of town and, in 2000, prices were still reasonable. So, managed to get something decent, very centrally located, for a very good price - and kept it.

So, don't assume facts.

But would I rather live in Bath or drive around Rochdale in a Bentley and make a point by writing in blue text? Tricky one, that.

However, it's the people in your age group, who've gone around buying up properties, who have pushed up the prices, causing rents to increase. These are also the age group living it up, being able to buy above their station, drive the cars they do and walk in to a B&O store and walk out with a BV9. The future will not be this arrogant age group, it will be the <35 that will drive the future of B&O, and the UK for that matter.

But then, like you, I'm now making assumptions. And am way off dicussion. And, as Flappo says, this has completely disintegrated.

Flappo, you are right though, B&O, in the 70s/80s, did you to farm out some of their production to Japan. I remember as a kid, my uncle, who ran a B&O store in Middlesbrough (iIt's gone now..) warning my father than some of the hi-fi wasn't true B&O.