Cutting Temp staff is a positive move - B&O needs to cut fixed costs now.

As for a takeover by another company - very unlikely - companies are preparing for the 2nd and 3rd economic dip (some analysts say the 1st will look like a bump in comparison)

B&O may have to exit this market altogether [:'(] to survive.

I think B&O just need to do what they are good at. The last few years have demonstrated quite clearly what they are not good at. Feedback from dealers and discussions here on Beoworld all have contributed to this. They need to put much more effort into products rather than knocking out a quick succession of failures. The Serene, Serenata, BeoSound 6, BeoSound 1 and BeoSound 3 particularly are not well thought out at all.

In a different thread I have said that I like the BeoSound 3 and use it often. This is true but in this thread I want to make the point that B&O should be more individual with all their products. The BeoSound 3 and BeoSound 1 look practically identical apart from size and the addition of CD. I don't like this approach and find it lazy. They both have the same speaker grille, the same automatic aerial, the same finish .. what sets them apart? The older BeoSound Century was a far more interesting and enticing product and still is by todays standards.

As for the Serene, well I also bought one of those too, but only because I was offered one for a price I thought was justifiable. I would never have bought it brand new. The Serenata has been even more of a disaster and the BeoSound 6 is arguably the worst of them all. What is B&O about it? Nothing. It looks like any other MP3 out there aside from the iPods. Writing Samsung on on the products was a huge mistake but B&O already know that so hopefully we won't be discussing that again.

I am personally looking forward to the new BeoCom 5 as I have always liked their phones but even in this case you have to question why they are coming out with their first handsfree landline (speaker phone capable) so late? This technology is ancient. What the heck have they been thinking?

It is most perplexing trying to understand how a company as pioneering and groundbreaking as B&O can make such senseless decisions.

I live in hope and to be honest I do feel that B&O will do something special because they usually do but why leave it till the last minute? Rather like the student who starts their dissertation at the last minute .. myself included from my student days! But surely academia and business are two very different areas.

Simon.

The_Beonic_Man wrote:

In a different thread I have said that I like the BeoSound 3 and use it often.

I agree. I also use mine a lot. The problem with the BS3 for me is it's lacking features. I needs Beo4 support (so you can quickly mute it from a distance, say if you're in an office or something) and you should be able to set an alarm that wakes you each morning. It could also do with being a tad shorter, simply for balance!

moxxey wrote:

wonderfulelectric wrote:

If high end hifi companies Meridian, B&W and Goldmund can still thrive..

How do you know they are thriving? Do you have access to their company accounts?

One of the key differences between those brands and B&O is that B&O decided to go down the 'you can only get our equipment from our stores' approach, which worked when customers were more naive (and many stores still attract customers, with too much money, who are still naive), but works less well with the intense competition we have these days. B&W allow their speakers to be stocked by different A/V stores where customers can go and compare products. With B&O, you get a B&O-only experience and there's only so much 'we're the greatest' that you can take when you talk to a B&O salesman.

Well. The fact that Meridian acquired Sooloos not long ago, and both B&W and Goldmund are rapidly gaining market share. I don't think that having their own boutiques is the problem. Many brands do that. I think it is more like the quality of the products themself is just not up to par. Selling just design wouldn't work nowadays because new equipments nowadays have already factored in good design equals to bigger appeal methodology.

PS. I think some of the product developers are dumb. Take for example the besound 5, if a computer was to be used to upload music then why even bother building in a hard drive in the first place? They could have simply built a high end DAC/controller, where you simply pull music off the network attached storage. Who wants to upload their music twice? Weird concept.

i do not believe that B&O should start selling their products in non-B&O stores.  this will definitely dilute the image of a premium product range.

having said that, there is a "compromise" for wider audience by having a store in store concept with major premium department stores, where there would be a B&O "corner" with B&O only products.

I believe this concept exists in various parts of the world, in Australia it is available in David Jones as a separate "store". 

I would also hate it for B&O to follow B&W's lead (they now manufacture their producs in China, granted the core drivers may still be made in the UK).  

Any prestigious brand that does this looses my immediate support as a prestigious brand.  I am prepared to pay a premium knowing it is still made in the country of origin and as soon as they make anything in Asia in the name of increasing profits (i never see the prices come down), i boycott the brand altogether.

Apple pulls it off by manufacturing in China, but they are feeding the masses and as said above, they are selling something that's $400, not $14,000!  it's also pointless if B&O became a mass marketed product.  

blue2th wrote:

I would also hate it for B&O to follow B&W's lead (they now manufacture their producs in China, granted the core drivers may still be made in the UK).  

Any prestigious brand that does this looses my immediate support as a prestigious brand.

Well, if they produced modern products that worked flawlessly, I'd also share your enthusiasm for manufacturing in Denmark. Problem is, that there are so many sw-related issues with many of their modern products that they couldn't do any worse manufacturing in China.

Ironically the BV8-40 is somewhat a 'better' and more stable product than the BV7-40, yet it's half the price. The BS5/BM5 feels like it was released 10 months too early, yet it was first previewed Summer 2007. What have B&O been doing from Summer 2007 through to January 2009? How did they manage to produce a product which is about 2/3rds complete and use end-users have to be 'happy' that new software is on the way to add extra 'features' that should have been in the original release.

How are us end-users happy that we spend £4000 on something that is still in development? One thing B&O users seem to have in common is a lot of patience. We seem so overwhelmed with the fact we can afford the products that we don't care too much if they crash, need rebooting or aren't actually complete on purchase.

"I am personally looking forward to the new BeoCom 5 as I have always liked their phones but even in this case you have to question why they are coming out with their first handsfree landline (speaker phone capable) so late? This technology is ancient. What the heck have they been thinking?

Simon"

Don't bother, buy this:-

http://tinyurl.com/qw4cxu

I couldn't agree more, hence I've so far stayed away from most of the modern stuff!

It would kill me to spend £10,000 on a TV only to face so so many problems which, lets face it, shouldn't be there! This is not a PC we're talking about, its a TV! I have never heard of so many problems from a TV! Not to say I approve of the situation with the BS5, but at least it is a PC based device so software issues are not unknown!

I take further offence to the dealers who are a complete waste of time in my experience. I've visited 3 in the UK (I know thats not really as representative sample) and two of them were awful, and I mean awful! Their facts were wrong, they were totally uninterested with helping me maintain the B&O I have and actually lied on one occassion (no updated STB-C IC for the Avant - there have been 2 since I was given this bull!). The general attitude is that the customer should be thankful the goods are being sold to them, and not that they should be thankful we're still buying their overpriced rubbish!

I am in the fortunate position that (so far) the economic downturn hasn't effected me and I have money in my pocket waiting for something decent to buy from B&O.

The problem is I am now at the stage where:

a. I have little faith in any new products until at least a year into production

b. I can't find a dealer who I want to do business with! I would actually resent sending anymore of my hard earned to my local shop, and the one dealer who I've dealt with who was good is half way up the country!

You're not making it easy for us B&O!

 Forgetting Apple, the question is... would you invest in B&O at present low share prices, confident that you will get a good return in the long-term?

So does anyone on this site (maybe our Danish members?) have any real insight into the current share price of B&O and whether they would be a good investment at present prices? We have one positive reference in this thread to the views of a Danish bank, but the general view elsewhere (US UK financial comment) seems to be hold or sell. Are there any brokers amongst us who could add comment via the General Forum (or even start a B&O investor forum???????)

Graham

If I had the money... I would invest in B&O products instead of shares... :-)