• B&O have a rock solid reputation in design. When people see the Beocenter 9000, they can't believe the design is 20 years old. The words 'B&O' are enough to get 'ooohs' and 'aaahs' as a reaction. The brand name is very very strong.
• B&O were pioneers in touch technology. Today, touch technology is hotter than ever thanks to Apple. Why not further develop the idea of touch interfaces?
• B&O are also pioneers in movement detection technology. A lot of people associate B&O with 'the sliding doors when your hand comes near'. Why not elaborate that idea? Say you move your hand in front of the screen and can flip through your digital albums?
• B&O are the masters of linking audio and video. This idea is very much actual, but nowadays the solutions B&O offers seem to become less flexible in an opensource world. B&O should make the linking wireless (in uncompressed quality!) and as easy as Apple's airport technology, and open to other brands.
• B&O has perfect control over its sales channels.

• Turntables are super popular among young people right now. Reissue the tangential Beograms in white with a USB connection and they'll sell like hot cakes.
• Same for around-ear headphones: every hipster is wearing these nowadays. Where is the U70?
• Imagine the Beocenter 9x00s or beosystem 2500-3000-... and Beosound 9000 with a built-in iPod dock, USB connections, touch interface that works with software and can be adapted to new technologies, ...
• the classic Danish-design-look of wood and veneers in combination with aluminium fits perfectly with the vintage design trend. Brands like tivoli audio sell for shameful prices. B&O can take the upper part of that market very easily...

@ apopboy

very well put! i agree w/ everything you said!

p.s. welcome to beoworld! 

Very well stated  apopboy.  However why would Apple have anything to do with B&O?  Apple may want B&O to use their software for a fee but Apple is really a mass market company.  Also I would like to point out that to the best of my knowledge, B&O have never gone retro and reissued a product.  Use of wood however would be an interesting design change.

One of the things I like about B&O is not only the modernist designs but the surprise when a new product is released.  The design is usually unlike any other such as Beolab 5. 

B&O has survived worse recessions and amazingly enough built their business during the great depression in the 1930's.

B&O will have to do what many companies are doing during this situation  They are trying to conserve cash, close underperforming stores, and unfortunately some workers become redundant.  However it is also important to have a recovery strategy and a plan for the future.  Many of the suggestions in this thread reveal what real customers want.  I also think digital is the way to go for music and video.  The age of the spinning disk is coming to a close.  Lets hope Bang and Olufsen rises to the challenge! 

I think it would surprise people just how close we've come to re-releasing products. Turn tables are probably a little far-fetched, but there are several form factors which lend themselves to current technology that have made it further than I would have thought!

I agree that the reintroduction of wood would be really something. I would guess we would see it on audio masters & television products, as I think we like the fact that our speakers are not wooden cabinets.

I also have to say that unless Apple change the way they operate, nothing approaching a collaboration will ever come about. We're lucky to be able to pay them to sell our accessories in their stores!   

It's true that Apple is a mass market company. However, they are also in the high end range (specs and pricing), stretching to the lower end. But the cheapest computer you'll get from them, the Macbook, is still an amazing product of which the design is unlike anything else (especially the latest aluminium unibody). And they have cooperated with Nike for the Nike + product ... Imagine designer Jonathan Ive cooperating with B&O, now that would be amazing.

Of course B&O can develop its own software and interfaces. But companies like Apple are setting the standard for these, and this very high level is what people will come to expect. It surely won't be easy to keep up! 

On the re-issues: It's true that B&O should keep its innovative image and not become too 'retro'. However, design companies like Vitra also bring re-issues to the market without losing their leading innovative image. It should be possible ...

Here´s a Christmas contest. Find an official bit of communication from B&O, from the past two-three years, where Jacob Jensen and his contribution to the brand is highlighted ... find stores where the past is highlighted, and where you have working classic products.

At some point, B&O ceased to remind potential customers of its heritage. To most younger customers, the brand might as well have dropped out of the sky yesterday. "Huh? What´s that?" Well, water under the bridge - several good suggestions in this thread, including rethinking the use of materials and product focus.

Price isn´t an object, if the products achieve excellence, and the Apple story is proof of that. Most PC-detractors use the price as a point against Apple, while those who have converted can´t understand why they didn´t do so earlier. B&O should quietly step away from arenas where it can´t differentiate itself in a telling way, and stress those where it can. Quite straightforward, if you´re willing to accept where you are weak, and where your behavior and products are actually eroding the brand, not building it.

Looking forward to the Jacob Jensen citations from recent years ... (it´s peculiar how he´s been disappeared.)

Funny, I was just going to write "with whom has Apple ever cooperated?"... and now I see they have actually cooperated with another company, once - Nike.  Although I'm not familiar with this Nike product, I assume it has something to do with shoes.  Shoes and computers - probably a good bet that they'll not be competing in the future...  But wait!... there's meaningful cooperation with apple selling B&O headphones in their stores 😁.  I would not hold my breath for real cooperation/integration, at least as long as King Jobs is running the show.  As many have stated, Apple is mass market, what do *they* get from opening their kimono to the Danes?  B&O probably sells as many systems in a year as Apple manufactures iPods in a day.

Also, the quality of Apple products has suffered lately (if this is because they moved manufacturing to China or just got more successful is anybody's guess).  Read about the well documented logic board problems with the iBook G4.  I've also had the logic board (2x) and screen replaced (1x) in just over a year on my current Macbook Pro.  So far, the only issue with any of my B&O has been the control panel on the Beosound3... and I didn't have to buy an extended warrenty for 3 yrs of coverage.

As much as I like my apple computers, I really, really do not want to see B&O try to be "more like apple".  I guess I'm more in agreement with 10%... I like my B&O physical, not virtual (there back on subject).  Niche, not mass market.  Tried and true, not jumping on the latest fad.

Stan