9 LEE wrote:

To quote the article :

"As one observer said, “most people want to see and hear a premium audio or TV before they buy and right now with the Coronavirus this is hard”."

Without stores, as a premium AV brand, you're screwed in my opinion....

You can buy on brand reputation online (B&O have lost this thanks to their utterly embarrassing PLAY product reviews), or you can rely on being an 'aspirational brand' (B&O are nowhere near this with anyone under 45 years old, on the whole), and many of their loyal customers have defected to brands which offer 80% of the experience for 35% of the price.

B&O will go bust in their current form. I have little doubt if things continue as they are.

After that, it's who buys them - and how much they want to resurrect an iconic brand, with a beautiful history, and a network of dealers who desperately want the brand to be great again.

Hopefully the first thing they do is sack the current board, retain the amazing talent they have already employed, then get to work on rebuilding the reputation.

Please feel free to disagree with me, and state your case!

Mantoni brought his McKinseyian model to save a dying B&O and enhance shareholder value. Chinese sourcing and manufacturing, brand management, selling off non-core business, and CEO face of the company did not work.

But without him, B&O would not have lasted this long.

The only people making money in the company today are fired executives. 

Corona Virus is merely euthanasia for many companies, but as long as they have 2 Kroner to rub together, B&O will live.   

Here is my 2 cents to that article:

1. The stock price of a company is not an indication of whether a company will go bankrupt. The best thing that Bang and Olufsen can do now is to go private and go about rebuilding their business - which they are.

2. The article states that in the last quarter they lost $250,000 (not sure if that is AUD or USD) but in either case it is not a big deal.

3. Their future will be determined by how well they can sell their current wireless product line that is in the sub $3,000 range. It is where the market is at.

Unlike many people here, I actually think B&O has modernized their product line and is much more competitive today. I really enjoy all their newer products a lot.

In general, this is a poorly written article because it is equating stock price to the condition of a company - just like we often confuse the stock market with state of the economy.

I am rooting for B&O in the same way I rooted for Sony and Apple when they were struggling...

I'd suggest the stock market is actually a decent indicator of whether a company risks bankruptcy.

More accurately it indicates the confidence investors have in the company's prospects (not great at the moment).

Is the market always right? Of course not, they can get too pessimistic and / or the company can reverse its fortunes.

But to suggest the stock price has little to no informational content is absurd.

Bankruptcy (or administration) will pretty much always be preceded by a material decline in the stock price. Tangible asset value can provide a floor, but that shouldn't be confused for optimism.

I'm rooting for B&O too - but Apple's recovery was marked by a strength of management, vision, execution and a certain innovation that B&O have zero chance of even halfway replicating. And moreover they seized upon a market opportunity, with iTunes / iPod, and took advantage of it in a generational way. Again, not a option for a niche operator like B&O.

Jaffrey2230 wrote:

Here is my 2 cents to that article:

1. The stock price of a company is not an indication of whether a company will go bankrupt. The best thing that Bang and Olufsen can do now is to go private and go about rebuilding their business - which they are.

2. The article states that in the last quarter they lost $250,000 (not sure if that is AUD or USD) but in either case it is not a big deal.

3. Their future will be determined by how well they can sell their current wireless product line that is in the sub $3,000 range. It is where the market is at.

Unlike many people here, I actually think B&O has modernized their product line and is much more competitive today. I really enjoy all their newer products a lot.

In general, this is a poorly written article because it is equating stock price to the condition of a company - just like we often confuse the stock market with state of the economy.

I am rooting for B&O in the same way I rooted for Sony and Apple when they were struggling...

9 LEE wrote:

"As one observer said, “most people want to see and hear a premium audio or TV before they buy and right now with the Coronavirus this is hard”."

Without stores, as a premium AV brand, you're screwed in my opinion...

In the event anyone in the NYC area has a burning desire to audition/purchase a B&O product during these stressful times. the B&O store in Manhattan will accommodate you by setting up a private demonstration (I have NO connection with the establishment; just trying to be helpful. mods: feel free to remove if in violation).

https://www.bang-olufsen.com/en/find-store/USOU000095

I got the following reply when I posted the article on FB:

"that reporter is the biggest flog in the AV industry..

Dave Richards only sides with brands that give him something. His stories generally have facts that are wrong or outdated...

B&O never gave him anything for free so he’s on a hate campaign and will report something negative at least once a week 

He’s current best friend is the manager of Aqipa, who also doesn’t know actual facts and it’s funny when a story is reported because it makes the 2 of them look stupid. Aqipa also used to sell B&O heavily discounted and got shitty that the new wholesalers of B&O Australia reduced his margin... he was doing more bad than good"

Well, if you saw it on Facebook it must be true!

Mikipidia wrote:

As far as iam aware dealers here are open but have limited the amount of people able to go in.

Here in the US only 'essential' retailers are legally allowed to remain open.  These include food, pharmacy, transport-related, and banks.  This is why Apple and Best Buy are closed (curbside pickup excepted for Best Buy, but the store is closed)  B&O stores closed according to their own web site.  (The number of people able to go in has always been self-limiting).

https://stores.bang-olufsen.com/en/united-states/ny/new-york/600-madison-ave

Independent of whether it was on Facebook or not, that article is poorly researched and written. Clearly there are facts in there, but they don’t tell the story. Yes, B&O is losing money, but they are not bleeding cash and they are launching products are seem to be better fit for the current market. They are also focusing on certain markets and product lines. We’ll see in the next few quarters how they do. The reason we don’t hear how other high end audio companies are doing is because they are private. I feel that B&O will be better off as a private rather than a publicly traded company at this point.