If people want cheaper B&O products with the same quality, then B&O should do what every other electronic company does (save the cottage producers in UK/US/Franceetc...)........

......Manufacture in China.

I bet they could probably knock 25-30% of their prices at a slash!

10%

One myth to dispel,for a start, is that a product manufactured in China is per se necessarily "cheap,and cheerful".

The Chinese will manufacture to whatever quality/price point is demanded by the customer eg Apple ,Toshiba(with the late XE1 HD DVD player),and Shanling CD players.

It is difficult to know whether,or not,a move to a cheaper far eastern manufacturing base,given the extra cost of transport back to eg Europe,and the additional EU import taxes, would produce a signifcant saving to an end buyer.

Again,one wonders if the cost of production in Denmark/Europe is the real reason for the perceived lack of value in certain products.

One thinks of small manufacturers such a Gryphon,Copland,and Primare,who can manufacture,and sell,product competetively at various price points.

My Hi-Fi system is Ensemble which manufactures in Switzerland,and still sells at competetive prices.

So,with B & O,there may be reasons other than the cost of manufacture that account for very high,and increasing,prices.

Perhaps the new CEO will institute a thorough financial review to identify possible areas for saving costs without impacting upon quality.

You are completely right.

B&O has always been more expensive than other brands, but I do agree that they are going to a bit too far these days. You always had to have a 'certain' level of income to be able to afford B&O stuff in the past, but right now, you are not far from having to be a member of what Rolls-Royce calls "UHNW-people" (ultra-high new worth), their core target for their exclusive cars, to be a B&O customer.

When the Beovision Avant came out in the mid-90s, at the equivalent of 5,000 €, even with a built-in VCR, I thought we were reaching the top. Now, for this amount, you can just buy a BV8 with a stand and an external DVD-player. You can forget about the BV7, even in its 32" form, let alone the BV9. Basically, for the price of one Beovision 9, you could get four Beovision Avant models... Yes, the BV9 is far more advanced, has a bigger screen, etc, but for God's sake, we are talking about a TV after all!

Now I do realize that an OK Asian manufactured LCD TV, at eg. 2,000 €, is much more expensive than its past CRT equivalents of 10 years ago too. But in relative terms, the price gap has grown significantly between B&O and other brands. B&O's products are still amazing (my parents have a BV7-40" Mk.III, indeed an amazing product in terms of picture, sound and build quality), but I guess the key for B&O is to justify its price premium vs. other brands.

And compared to 10-20 years ago, that is much tougher, for at least 2 reasons:

- LCD and plasma technology move much faster, making it more difficult for a potential B&O customer to accept to pay such a high price for a technology that will be more or less outdated 2 years down the road;

- With flat screens, it's harder to give a product the famous 'B&O look and feel', differentiation being less easy, at least to the casual observer.

So what's the solution? It all depends on B&O's strategy: maybe it is on purpose that they are losing their larger customer base, because they want to go for these 'UHNW-people' only (higher income per sale). In that case, B&O's main competitor wouldn't be Loewe or Accuphase, but rather a piece of modern art or a yacht... But if B&O's strategy is to keep a relatively large customer base like in the past, they have to cut their prices, and therefore, to keep the same margins, their manufacturing costs. I really don't think lower quality materials is an option.

Take a look at the car industry, Bentley being a good example in my view. They have their traditional products, aimed at the select (lucky) few, and a more mainstream product line (mainstream being all relative of course), based on technology from the Volkswagen group. It enables them to sell a car called Continental GT that remains quite expensive, but less so than their other coupés further up their range. The Continental GT is a brilliant car, powerful, luxurious, ie. it has everything one would expect from a Bentley. It's also simpler and cheaper to manufacture, lots of part being shipped from Germany to England, where only the final assembly takes place. The more expensive Arnage is hand-made, has more customization possibilities, finer details, etc, hence its higher price.

The bottom line is that I would have no problem if a B&O-product was made in a country where labor costs are cheaper ("made by Bang & Olufsen" is more important to me than "made in Denmark"), if it means a better price/quality ratio. Right now, even as a hardcore B&O fan (but not a UHNW person), I am not sure I will replace my beloved BV3 by a BV7-40" when the time comes. 14,000 € for a TV-set, even a great one, sounds a bit over the top to me. Except if I win the lottery maybe.

Klaus

BV 3-32" - BS 9000 Mk. II - 2 x BL 8000 - 2 x BL 6000 - BL 2

As a longtime owner of B&O products, I tend to think about each purchase as a ten year investment.  Although I would like a B&O TV, it just doesn't pass my self imposed 10 year test.  I still have my MX5000 which is almost 20 years old and works perfectly but I purchased a 32 inch Toshiba LCD as my interim TV.  I was operating under the delusion that someday flat screen technology would become ubiquitous and B&O could then produce a 10 year TV.  That does not seem to be happening.  There are just too many evolving TV standards such as Oled, sed, and recently Super HI-Def.  I can afford a complete BV4 system but I have this feeling that after 5 years, it will be hopelessly dated and I will be disappointed.  You might suggest that I trade in my Beovision every 4 years or so but there is a problem.  US dealers are not very generous with trade ins or will not do it at all.

Bang and Olufsen does not do digital very well!  I broke my 10 year rule and purchased a Beomedia 1.  I do like it mostly for internet radio but I use iTunes with an Apple TV for video and music.  Its not a matter of money exactly, iTunes is just better.  I especially like the movie rental functions on the Apple TV.  The movie rental feature as yet does not have a large enough library but in a short time that will change.  I know that when the Beosound 5 is introduced, it will be very cool looking and I will probably want one.  However this time, I will be comparing it to iTunes and Apple TV.  I will wonder if $6000 is worth it for a beautiful media player.

What B&O product would I purchase?  I am going to purchase the Beolab 5s without hesitation.  Although some would say it is weird looking and just too expensive, I like the design and the wonderful sound.  Beolab 5s easily meets my 10 year criteria.

There has been a lot of discussion that B&O really produces products for the wealthy or a least the near wealthy.  That might be true but the rich can be very fickle.  In a survey of some wealthy North Americans, they were asked if they would buy a Bentley manufactured in Germany or the UK?  There was a unanimous answer.  They would only purchase a Bentley from the UK because of course Bentley is British.  Conversely nobody wanted a Porsche made outside of Germany.  Some would think this is silly and they are probably correct.  This leads to my conclusion that Bang and Olufsen is a Danish manufacturer.  If B&O outsources too heavily, they will loose the Danish distinction.

"All comming to a store near you- or in your case- your store within 12 months."

Chinese manufacturing? Do you have a scoop? Otherwise I don't get the reference.

Let's hope so Lee.

I agree with one of the above posts that Chinese manufacturing doesn't neccessarily speak the the product's quality as it once did. I've been really pleased with my Apple products and it has never bothered me that they aren't made in Cupertino California. I've always been torn about Danish manufacturing "making it" as other companies successfully use the entire world as a parts bin and assembly line. While I certainly love the fact that our products are "hand made" in DK, I can't say I'd cry a river over 30% price reductions and a Made in China etching so long as quality control didn't suffer.

I do understand that the Avant at $8.5k US was an astonishing amount of money and that some of our televisions have soared into the stratosphere by more than doubling that amount within a decade (maybe if my income more than doubled I wouldn't be as sour!). So I think that at least a full robust lineup at BeoVision 8 price pricepoints is certainly in order.