Barry Santini wrote:

People tend to fetishize or relicize older objects, imbuing them with attraction or appeal disproportionately out of sync with their "real" value

Perfectly said and absolutely true. Panasonic is a large enough company they can play with a niche line of halo products, and even then unless they turn the numbers I expect them to be short lived. Their TV market is suffering, they are pulling out of the US market from what I hear, at least for the near term.

I still think B&O is nuts to produce an expensive halo speaker like the BL90, no matter how much I respect the design. I think they will wind up losing money they can ill afford to lose and it diverted money from things they should have been concentrating on, like the Moment s/w. I'd be happy to be wrong but that's how I see it right now.

Jeff wrote:

Barry Santini wrote:

People tend to fetishize or relicize older objects, imbuing them with attraction or appeal disproportionately out of sync with their "real" value

I still think B&O is nuts to produce an expensive halo speaker like the BL90, no matter how much I respect the design. I think they will wind up losing money they can ill afford to lose and it diverted money from things they should have been concentrating on, like the Moment s/w. I'd be happy to be wrong but that's how I see it right now.

 

I think it depends upon their business model. Yes, there will be some money locked in development of the BL90 but that will be amortised as investment and therefore adds present and future value to the company worth. It will also provide future cash flow as it sets up the next gen products whether that be a BL100 or a BP A1.

There will be some cash locked up is BL90 build and repair stock but I expect the BL90 will only build to an order. When buying mine, typical lead time is 6weeks. However, mine were effectively ready off the shelf. Once those stocks are gone, you wait (or a dealer had to wait somewhere). As of March this year only 4 pairs were ordered by customers and I was either no.4 or 5. Thus B&O will be using a "just-in-time" production model, whereas Panasonic will have to commit big-time in releasing any product.

I guess it is likE another of my favorites - Aston Martin (another cash-limited dinosaur). They are currently making a small profit working on "specials" and limited runs to finance future models. Thus it seems, the business model works making a few rapidly changing variants pays better than a long run of standard cars. Again all JIT managed from marketing, to concept, to engineering and fabrication. Large turnover is not the only model and it is one that is probably obsolete for anyone on a small scale/high value product

It's nice for a company to be big enough to create those halo products subsidised if necessary by mainstream stuff . It can offer something to which  the mainstream buyer can relate/aspire. I wouldn't want a scaled down BL 90 but at least it's a Top Trumps B&O product the press can get some attention with. Meanwhile it's good to see B&O featuring previous products in multi room setups. 

Mr 10Percent wrote:

Jeff wrote:

Barry Santini wrote:

People tend to fetishize or relicize older objects, imbuing them with attraction or appeal disproportionately out of sync with their "real" value

I still think B&O is nuts to produce an expensive halo speaker like the BL90, no matter how much I respect the design. I think they will wind up losing money they can ill afford to lose and it diverted money from things they should have been concentrating on, like the Moment s/w. I'd be happy to be wrong but that's how I see it right now.

 

 

Mr 10%, Did Jeff's comment leave your speechless?  😁

With respect to the BL90, I'm going to assume B&O knows what they're doing.  Aren't most ~$100K and up speakers manufactured by small, niche companies?  Seems like there's a different business model for these types of products.  And, hopefully, there will be some "trickle down" to more affordable speakers.  Also, it probably helped to attract and retain high quality engineering talent (how many places are building such cutting edge speakers).  Hard to measure, for sure. 

I definitely agree B&O needs to clean up their software act.  If the BeoMusic app is the prime interface for all of these new BeoPlay speakers (A9, A6, Essence), it's a very weak first impression.

not really. Just proven to myself that I'm useless typing on a phone with my fat fingers. See below

just to add.....i would not be surprised if B&O's business plan for the 90's is between 20 - 50 pairs worldwide per year. I doubt Meridian sell that many DSP8000's a year. How many B&W 800's? Not a big market I think

Die_Bogener wrote:

Who would buy a cd-player today? A record player...

Me.  I have an Oppo universal disc player.  It plays CDs, DVD-V, DVD-A, and SACD, all region, all video formats.

Yes, I download non-officially released recordings and videos, but I always burn to disc.  Anything officially released, I buy a physical copy.

I have a Dual CS5000 turntable (purchased new in the early '90's).  It is still going strong, even with the original belt.  I still purchase and play records that can't be found on CD.

D

@Doonesbury

That is exactly the point.

Those who prefer physical media already have a solution.

The need for launching a B&O cd-player (or even a vinyl player) is way to small.

Besides - these devices would be way too expensive. A lot of those, who might be interested, would avoid buying into them anyway.

MM

It might be okay to have some of the retro look in the Beoplay line of products.  However if Bang & Olufsen were to relaunch the past, they will then be perceived as the past.  I love the Beolab 90 and would love to have it.  What stops me from buying it is my living room is too small and I promised my wife I would order a new car.

I think that Jeff is expressing some of the anxiety I have about B&O.  Their presence in North America is shrinking.  If they close a few more stores I will probably look elsewhere.

I agree with those who would like a junior version of the Beolab 90......maybe a Beolab 45 for around $30000 USD.   

Mr 10Percent wrote:

just to add.....i would not be surprised if B&O's business plan for the 90's is between 20 - 50 pairs worldwide per year. I doubt Meridian sell that many DSP8000's a year. How many B&W 800's? Not a big market I think

Mr 10Percent I think you are probably right about the numbers sold to end users of BL90s.

But hang on a minute, if you are right, that is far less sold to end users than on display in B&O stores.

If that is the case it seems like utter business madness!

I do feel so sorry for the dealers now, it seems for many of the ones I speak to. They think the business model just isn't working anymore.

Sorry for the thread drift.