StUrrock wrote:

Lee you have a great business brain and love the brand.

What would you do if you were in charge?

I love the brand, but I'm not sure about the first part !!

Personally I'd go back to the Multibrand concept, immediately.  Get B&O sat beside other brands where people can see it.  Get the name known again..  Have dedicated stores, of course - but let people experience the stuff in an environment they're comfortable in to start with. There's nothing as enticing as a "special" section reserved for B&O in a multibrand store if it's done well.

Internet sales?  B&O simply has to be seen and touched - not seen on your computer.  It's not a simple commodity, it's a product manufactured and made using expensive processes and unless it has rave reviews online nobody will take the plunge without seeing and/or hearing it first.  However, if there's little chance anyone will ever see one in the flesh, then why (as a journalist) write a review about it?  It's a bit chicken and egg really..

B&O takeover by another company?  I'm not sure on Danish laws etc, but I can see the Danish government stepping in before B&O is bought out by another company..

Lee

B&O certainly seem to be in a bit of a rut at the moment. 

Having recently visited a number of B&O stores in and around London, (see my other thread about choosing a new TV), I have to say I was made aware by one really great B&O dealer of the advantages of the brand, the new matrix style system for bringing in different sources to listen/watch. I was surprised as the brand now seem a lot more nimble on there feet then they once were and this the concept seems really great.

With that said, getting rid of old technologies such as ML, I would imagine alienate some of the loyal customer base who have no doubt in the recent past invested in it and may even have wired there homes thinking it would be future proof. Take my own scenario as an example, I'm after a 32 -40 tv for the bedroom, thus Beoplay 32 would be the ideal choice, though I now can't connect this to my Beosound 9000 without paying hundreds for a converter.......to say I wasn't best pleased was an understatement.

On the whole, B&O were are in some ways are providing an integrated product suite, though I feel there core strength now lies in audio rather than visual as LCD/LED technologies become a cheap commodity. 

I'm going to put a link to an article which i'm sure has been mentioned here a few times, but might be new to some. It is a great article, which is just the sort of information that needs to be out there, to get the correct message across to those who are ignorant as to what B&O is all about.

But if you read the entire article, and then go to the comments section, you will only see one comment which it pretty well sums up what B&O are up against. It is not the first time i have heard it either, so writing it off as some troll nonsense wouldn't be wise.

My comment to that (lonesome) comment:

If I would let my wife pick out the 'stereo equipment' we should have, I would not have any at all!

Except maybe my iPad and some good headphones.

On the other hand (seeing that comment from the positive side) - if B&O is what the wife picks out, you should be very pleased with her choice 🙂

MM

Imagine asking your wife to just put a CD on with

The next step is to paper the walls with $100 dollar bills!!

Why am I reminded of Nero's Golden House? After bankrupting the Roman treasury to build it, he moved in and supposedly said "now I can live like a human being!" 

Jonathan wrote:

Imagine asking your wife to just put a CD on with link (note I didn't bother reading the text, it's more for the pictures)

I'm going to put it out there and guess this guy doesn't have too many friends...

I'm all for good sound, really - and I appreciate a lovely system like the next man, but the terminology these guys use makes me die!  I just kind of glaze over, then laugh, then glaze over, then get bored and stop reading....

Lee