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ARCHIVED FORUM -- April 2007 to March 2012
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This is the first Archived Forum which was active between 17th April 2007 and 1st March February 2012

 

Latest post 01-22-2008 9:04 PM by darioazul. 168 replies.
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  • 01-10-2008 2:06 PM In reply to

    • AT
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    Re: Torben B. has been sacked!!!!!

    "in 10 years from now we may have a lab5 & 8000 love child!"

    Do You think, it's enough for 10 years? Mostly, in these days?
  • 01-10-2008 2:20 PM In reply to

    • 355f
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    Re: Torben B. has been sacked!!!!!

    Alex:
    guest:

    Lets hope this is a positive for B&O. I have been very disappointed with all the products released in recent years.

    The Beosound 6 mp3 player is a very poor product compared to the recent iPods. The Beolab 9 speakers are plain ugly.

    Agree 100% plain ugly ! 

    well of course all design tastes are different. Would you prefer that B&O produce more of the speakers like the 8000??

    Look pretty but.........

  • 01-10-2008 2:30 PM In reply to

    • ®
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    Re: Torben B. has been sacked!!!!!

    Yes I would.
  • 01-10-2008 2:32 PM In reply to

    Re: Torben B. has been sacked!!!!!

    Graham1982:

    Has DAB been rolled out in the US? Again this is a bit of a blanket statement. However, as a child (probably as a result of Hollywood) I thought that America was the most technologically advanced country in the world. However, it would appear that their mobile phone network is on 2.5 or less in general and there is not much 3g and that the infrastructure for the uploading of information over the internet is quite poor. I think I will leave this issue before I get into hot water - this is as far as my technical knowledge goes. However, if the US is as far behind the times with regard to radio perhaps DAB would not be important for the US market either.

     

    Barely anybody in the US knows about Dab.  In the US, there is satellite radio and HD radio.  There were two satellite radio services which are merging into one called XM radio.  It is also available on the web.  HD radio is a digital version of regular FM that is being rolled out now around the country.  Many new cars have HD radio as standard whether anyone wants it or not.  I prefer internet radio myself

    Cellular phone service is a poor indicator of technological ability.  I am looking forward to Wimax service which will be available in Chicago, Washington, and a few other cities starting in April.  Essentially this is wide area wifi and it is hoped that it will be nationwide.  Several applications include Skype on a handheld phone anywhere and internet radio in a car.  The wimax providers so far are Xohm and Clearwire.

    I was amazed by the removal of Mr Torbensen.  The greater worry is that some hedge fund will buy up all the stock and make B&O into a company that none of us would recognize.

     

    Beosound 5 BL9 BC2 BL8000 Beovision 7 BL6002  BL11 

     

  • 01-10-2008 2:42 PM In reply to

    • Craig
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    Re: Torben B. has been sacked!!!!!

    Well this was the last thing I expected to read on Beoworld today. Really don't know what else to say right now.

     

    CraigSmile

    For millions of years, mankind lived just like the animals. Then something happened which unleashed the power of our imagination. We learned to talk and we learned to listen..

  • 01-10-2008 2:59 PM In reply to

    Torben B. has been sacked!!!!!

    I agree that this is not good news.  However, I think B&O has changed the top position before on a similar time interval, so maybe the timing was just coincidence.  I wish B&O would go private, so they are not subject to the rises and falls of the stock market.  B&O does need to pay attention to its various constituencies a little more, i.e. the stores and their customers.  I know it's difficult, because this adds many voices to the chorus, but a good manager not only listens to everyone, but can pull out of the chorus the exceptional singers.

    I think he had a good vision for the company.

    If B&O moves to a being a majority low cost producer, i.e. manufacturing in the Far East, I would lose interest in their products.  I think it is very important that manufacturing remain close to "home".  There is so much more to manufacturing than the bottom line financial costs.  One has to think how important a labor force that actually manufactures is in society.  The production of goods, the actual physical products, is key for the self-determination of a company.   The moment they start to sub-contract it out, I mean the major assembly and component part, then you will slowly see the erosion of the core and integrity of the company.

    This is why it is fairly important to have a continuation of the same management as much as possible.  The more change there is usually results in throwing the baby out with the bathwater, so to speak.

    Contrary to what others might think, I believe some of the smaller audio products have been very positive for B&O, such as the BeoSound 1, 2 and 3, and their telephones.  I am still thinking over the BeoSound 6 and the necessity of having it, though adding the screen was probably a good thing.  I also think that the mobile telephones have exposed B&O to customers which otherwise might not give B&O a second look.  Even though they are made in Korea, which doesn't sit very well with me, I believe B&O worked hand in hand with Samsung on the production parameters, including top quality control.  I believe their joint collaboration agreement is quite specific and precise.  I plan on getting the Serenata in the near future.  I already have the Serene.  The audio quality is superb, which is what counts for a mobile phone.

    As far as the radio market, satellite radio is the wave of the future.  As I have stated before on another thread, digital is the way to go for B&O.  It is a certainty that if B&O heads in another direction other than digital, it would be a very serious mistake.  Yes, I admire the BeoGram record players, but let's face it, those are available as pre-owned, many in very good to excellent condition, but that really is a product of a bygone era. To come out with another BeoGram traditional turntable would be liking introducing audio or video equipment with vacuum tubes. I still have mine, and it works perfectly after more than 20 years.  I think I got it when I was 10 years old.

    I am sorry to see Mr. Torben B. leave. 

  • 01-10-2008 3:04 PM In reply to

    Re: Torben B. has been sacked!!!!!

    My biggest concern about B&O's future, is that if it loses it's exclusivity and this really has been apparent over the past 10 years. In the mid 90s, I knew very few people who had or even knew what B&O was. Today, it seems many people know the brand and proof of this is just by how many stores there are around selling B&O. Every town and city I go to in the UK has atleast one B&O dealer or more. I can also comment on France and Italy, and here it is the same story. Even at 2000 meters above sea level in the Alps I walked into a B&O dealer (probably the highest dealer in the world!) in St Moritz.

    I hope that B&O will not lower any further the price of their products. In doing so, they will automatically turn and slip into a mass producing company like Samsung, Sony, Hitachi etc.

    Fingers crossed that the new senior management don't make things any worse and that B&O regains more of its past exclusivity through REAL innovative technology and design.

  • 01-10-2008 3:27 PM In reply to

    • 355f
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    Re: Torben B. has been sacked!!!!!

    waltoninn:

    I agree that this is not good news.  However, I think B&O has changed the top position before on a similar time interval, so maybe the timing was just coincidence.  I wish B&O would go private, so they are not subject to the rises and falls of the stock market.  B&O does need to pay attention to its various constituencies a little more, i.e. the stores and their customers.  I know it's difficult, because this adds many voices to the chorus, but a good manager not only listens to everyone, but can pull out of the chorus the exceptional singers.

    I think he had a good vision for the company.

    If B&O moves to a being a majority low cost producer, i.e. manufacturing in the Far East, I would lose interest in their products.  I think it is very important that manufacturing remain close to "home".  There is so much more to manufacturing than the bottom line financial costs.  One has to think how important a labor force that actually manufactures is in society.  The production of goods, the actual physical products, is key for the self-determination of a company.   The moment they start to sub-contract it out, I mean the major assembly and component part, then you will slowly see the erosion of the core and integrity of the company.

    This is why it is fairly important to have a continuation of the same management as much as possible.  The more change there is usually results in throwing the baby out with the bathwater, so to speak.

    Contrary to what others might think, I believe some of the smaller audio products have been very positive for B&O, such as the BeoSound 1, 2 and 3, and their telephones.  I am still thinking over the BeoSound 6 and the necessity of having it, though adding the screen was probably a good thing.  I also think that the mobile telephones have exposed B&O to customers which otherwise might not give B&O a second look.  Even though they are made in Korea, which doesn't sit very well with me, I believe B&O worked hand in hand with Samsung on the production parameters, including top quality control.  I believe their joint collaboration agreement is quite specific and precise.  I plan on getting the Serenata in the near future.  I already have the Serene.  The audio quality is superb, which is what counts for a mobile phone.

    As far as the radio market, satellite radio is the wave of the future.  As I have stated before on another thread, digital is the way to go for B&O.  It is a certainty that if B&O heads in another direction other than digital, it would be a very serious mistake.  Yes, I admire the BeoGram record players, but let's face it, those are available as pre-owned, many in very good to excellent condition, but that really is a product of a bygone era. To come out with another BeoGram traditional turntable would be liking introducing audio or video equipment with vacuum tubes. I still have mine, and it works perfectly after more than 20 years.  I think I got it when I was 10 years old.

    I am sorry to see Mr. Torben B. leave. 

    An interesting stance- but flawed in the manufacturing world we are now in.

    There is not one high end audio company that is not sourcing from the far east this includes tag mclaren, meridian, ect and within one year many of these brands will produce many products wholescale in China. If one expects BnO to develop more technical products- and that seems to be the case on this forum, it stands to reason that the product life will be shorter. BnO will not get back the intitial tooling costs if they are reliant upon  ahome grown development procedure, taking years to repackage a phillips dvd player! I regret to say that the work ethic amoungst far eastern companies is in excess of any european manufacturer

    Fact is the erosion and integrity of the company will take place if they dont do it! I think the mobile phones individuals have been exposed to would probbaly lessen their desire to buy into the brand experience- Ill though out, not at all technical, large and ungainly, expensive and very poor sales as a result. Im afraid the quality control via samsung must be one of the worst- I gave up on the mobile phones from B&O- even when new the QC is poor. and that is what the liason with Samsung has brought.

    The only companies really good at high tech are all japanese, quality control and innovation are far better than any korean offering

  • 01-10-2008 3:52 PM In reply to

    Re: Torben B. has been sacked!!!!!

    waltoninn:

    If B&O moves to a being a majority low cost producer, i.e. manufacturing in the Far East, I would lose interest in their products.  I think it is very important that manufacturing remain close to "home".  There is so much more to manufacturing than the bottom line financial costs.  One has to think how important a labor force that actually manufactures is in society.  The production of goods, the actual physical products, is key for the self-determination of a company.   The moment they start to sub-contract it out, I mean the major assembly and component part, then you will slowly see the erosion of the core and integrity of the company.

    See.. this is probably a delimma facing probably every western based manufacturing orientated etc business at the moment.. what do they do? do they sell and move out east or stay and create more avenues for revenue? the latter as 355 mentions is that a bigger product range with the same brand quality/ethic which you/we all expect from B&O is simply not possible without something giving way and in this instance, the prestige that is "Made in Denmark" maybe a sacrifice B&O has to make in order to survive and compete. 

    Remember M&S? Made in England? when it was actually made in india? M&S was once associated with luxury and well made goods, now its anything and everything.

  • 01-10-2008 4:13 PM In reply to

    • Ignace
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    Re: Torben B. has been sacked!!!!!

    Sad to hear about this.

    Somehow the 80's / Philips pop into my mind.

    Sad 

     

  • 01-10-2008 4:30 PM In reply to

    Re: Torben B. has been sacked!!!!!

    Henry:

    Today, it seems many people know the brand and proof of this is just by how many stores there are around selling B&O. Every town and city I go to in the UK has atleast one B&O dealer or more.

     

    You've obviously never been to Plymouth then?  

    Never Mind The Ball-Cocks www.markmossplumbing.co.uk

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  • 01-10-2008 4:33 PM In reply to

    • 9 LEE
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    Re: Torben B. has been sacked!!!!!

    A lot of sense has been posted on this thread already. Some i agree with completely, and some i question - but all valid.

    One thing that MUST be remembered is that 90% of the times when we buy a premium product, we buy with our hearts - not out heads.

    When i first got into B&O, i saw it as a huge importance that the products were made by Danes - intelligent, quality conscious and proud of the brand.  It was a kind of romanticism which added so much kudos to the product, and i loved it!  Bang & Olufsen meant 'Made in Denmark' and i was more than happy to pay a premium for that.  

    Without of course disrespecting the Chinese/Korean manufacturers, i am afraid that for many years they have become synonimous with mass-production and cheap manufacturing - and thinking of paying what is really an 'ultra-premium' price for something that has very little or nothing to do with Denmark in terms of manufacture strikes me as Bang & Olufsen taking me for a ride. 

    I want B&O to be Danish, and i'll pay for that.  I want to think of the men and women in the whisper quiet factory floor painstakingly checking every single component.. i'll pay for that. I want to hear dealers being proud to sell products where 99.99% arrive perfect, where their installers don't have the agonisingly embarrassing experience of setting up a new product and finding it not working. I'll pay for that.

    In short, if you're going to charge the earth - make buying the product an experience. Make it special. Make it Danish.

    Lee 

     

    BeoWorld - Everything Bang & Olufsen

  • 01-10-2008 4:37 PM In reply to

    Re: Torben B. has been sacked!!!!!

    It's worrying to hear that B&O will find it difficult to recoup the tooling costs for any homegrown product over its anticipated life-cycle, and perhaps this explains why they're still churning out 15yr old designs such as the Beolab 8000 and Beosound 9000! Seriously though, there are interesting parallels here with the British car industry in the 60s and 70s. Fast paced technological advance, aggressive competition from the far east with quality products, boards that can't see beyond the end of their own noses, long production runs of embarassingly outmoded products. I own an MGB and they were in continuous production for 18 years, and once the tooling costs etc. had been recouped, what did BMC/BL/whatever they were called that week do? Keep churning out the same product with no investment in its replacement, until such a point came where sales had slumped so massively it was uneconomical to produce anymore. In 1980 how many people wanted a new car with a live rear axle and an engine design that was by then nearly 30 years old? I could go on as the whole industry was littered with these colossal own goals (which is why there isn't one left), and I just hope B&O don't go down the same route at this critical juncture... 

    President, Beomaster 8000 Appreciation Society

  • 01-10-2008 4:49 PM In reply to

    • ed7
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    Re: Torben B. has been sacked!!!!!

    9 LEE:

    A lot of sense has been posted on this thread already. Some i agree with completely, and some i question - but all valid.

    One thing that MUST be remembered is that 90% of the times when we buy a premium product, we buy with our hearts - not out heads.

    When i first got into B&O, i saw it as a huge importance that the products were made by Danes - intelligent, quality conscious and proud of the brand.  It was a kind of romanticism which added so much kudos to the product, and i loved it!  Bang & Olufsen meant 'Made in Denmark' and i was more than happy to pay a premium for that.  

    Without of course disrespecting the Chinese/Korean manufacturers, i am afraid that for many years they have become synonimous with mass-production and cheap manufacturing - and thinking of paying what is really an 'ultra-premium' price for something that has very little or nothing to do with Denmark in terms of manufacture strikes me as Bang & Olufsen taking me for a ride. 

    I want B&O to be Danish, and i'll pay for that.  I want to think of the men and women in the whisper quiet factory floor painstakingly checking every single component.. i'll pay for that. I want to hear dealers being proud to sell products where 99.99% arrive perfect, where their installers don't have the agonisingly embarrassing experience of setting up a new product and finding it not working. I'll pay for that.

    In short, if you're going to charge the earth - make buying the product an experience. Make it special. Make it Danish.

    Lee 

     

    well said lee there is nothing to add to that is there!!!?, lets hope b&o will be stronger with their next man in charge,and give us a lot of positive things to debate

  • 01-10-2008 4:55 PM In reply to

    • Alex
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    Re: Torben B. has been sacked!!!!!

    The design of B&O's speakers is not the issue. B&O has kept on producing 'different' and interesting designs (although I do feel the BeoSound 6 looks a little ordinary), which distinguishes them from the crowd.

    Whether or not you think the BeoLab 9s are ugly is personal preference, I personally think they look fantastic, and would choose them over the 8000s visually, and definitely sonically.

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  • 01-10-2008 4:59 PM In reply to

    • 355f
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    Re: Torben B. has been sacked!!!!!

    9 LEE:

    A lot of sense has been posted on this thread already. Some i agree with completely, and some i question - but all valid.

    One thing that MUST be remembered is that 90% of the times when we buy a premium product, we buy with our hearts - not out heads.

    When i first got into B&O, i saw it as a huge importance that the products were made by Danes - intelligent, quality conscious and proud of the brand.  It was a kind of romanticism which added so much kudos to the product, and i loved it!  Bang & Olufsen meant 'Made in Denmark' and i was more than happy to pay a premium for that.  

    Without of course disrespecting the Chinese/Korean manufacturers, i am afraid that for many years they have become synonimous with mass-production and cheap manufacturing - and thinking of paying what is really an 'ultra-premium' price for something that has very little or nothing to do with Denmark in terms of manufacture strikes me as Bang & Olufsen taking me for a ride. 

    I want B&O to be Danish, and i'll pay for that.  I want to think of the men and women in the whisper quiet factory floor painstakingly checking every single component.. i'll pay for that. I want to hear dealers being proud to sell products where 99.99% arrive perfect, where their installers don't have the agonisingly embarrassing experience of setting up a new product and finding it not working. I'll pay for that.

    In short, if you're going to charge the earth - make buying the product an experience. Make it special. Make it Danish.

    Lee 

     

    This is a very nice view to hold and in the 80/90s it worked for everyone... but now im not so sure. Their very actions with the BV8 show they are not quality concious and proud of the brand

    Clearly a reducing number are buying with their hearts though! and dont consider it an expereince anymore- not  agood one anyway.the consumer is demanding more. If manufacturing stays as present the ultra expensive brand will become even more so with a product range that slips still further behind one cannot justify the development expense. Although we like to think B&O as exclusive and top quality- many on here and elsewhere have realised that pricing  is just far far to much when a quality brand can produce something very close for 1/9 of the price.

    With almost all leading audio brands losing money the only option is that the manufacturing costs are made lower in order to firstly produce more products at  a better price and hence maintain the margin and use that to produce products more quickly in order that they reach the market before they are outdated and more R&D and design. Mnay of the components are already made in China- why does making the whole unit there make it unreliable??

    Whilst there are examples of poor quality manufacturing, the QC levels in some factories go way beyond that of any european manufacturer I have ever seen-think of Nikon, leica,for mainstream brands- does one associate these with poor quality control? its made in Denmark now and yet many of the comments on here relate to old designs, low end technology and B&O considered to be out of date- so the made in Denmark label hasnt done much thus far.

    On here we are fortunate about hearing new developments of products at BnO and then wait years for them to come to fruition- in this market that is not acceptable and bno will die as a brand for sure unless the management accept commercial realism rather then taking a product that performs merely acceptably and charging the earth for it. now thats what i really call taking the customer for a ride

  • 01-10-2008 5:01 PM In reply to

    Re: Torben B. has been sacked!!!!!

    ArgyleMoss:
    Henry:

    Today, it seems many people know the brand and proof of this is just by how many stores there are around selling B&O. Every town and city I go to in the UK has atleast one B&O dealer or more.

    You've obviously never been to Plymouth then?  

    Laughing you're right mate, I haven't. But don't worry, I'm sure there will be a new dealer there next week.

  • 01-10-2008 5:19 PM In reply to

    Re: Torben B. has been sacked!!!!!

    355f:

    Their very actions with the BV8 show they are not quality concious and proud of the brand

    Call me a hypocrit as I have a BV8, but this is a perfect point and I couldn't agree more. BV8 is not a high end vision product, so why are B&O even thinking about making it? The answer to that in my opinion is money, and this goes back to what Lee mentioned on a different thread about too many senior B&O employees thinking solely about company figures and not about the magic of every B&O product which is what the company relies on in my opinion. When a BeoSound 9000, BeoCenter 9500, BeoLab 3 is launched and it's made in Denmark and it works perfectly, then B&O can charge what they like and I'll buy it and they can make their profits. Although I am not an expert in the TV industry, I give B&O a bit of due as it seems to me that the industry is very competitive and advancing at an extraordinary fast pace.

    I thought I might also point out that the Christmas bought Nintendo Wii cannot be played on my BV8 as their is not enough space to literally plug in the scart cable into the back of the TV. A design embarrassment or what? Funny how the Nintendo Wii seems to be working in the picture of the BV8 and Nintendo Wii on the B&O site.

  • 01-10-2008 5:39 PM In reply to

    Re: Torben B. has been sacked!!!!!

    Does somebody know the solution?

    Increase margins? Then even less people are gonna buy Beovisions in my opion.

    Shouldn't  Bang&Olufsen go back to a pricelevel like ten years back and not get stuck with the same prices, even when flat panels LCD or Plasma got cheaper and better every year?

    The gab with the rest of the AV-marked has become much to big I think.

  • 01-10-2008 5:47 PM In reply to

    • moxxey
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    Re: Torben B. has been sacked!!!!!

    Henry:

    I thought I might also point out that the Christmas bought Nintendo Wii cannot be played on my BV8 as their is not enough space to literally plug in the scart cable into the back of the TV. A design embarrassment or what? Funny how the Nintendo Wii seems to be working in the picture of the BV8 and Nintendo Wii on the B&O site.

    Out of interest, what did you dealer say when you explained the above scenario? Can the Wii be connected through HDMI or components?

  • 01-10-2008 5:53 PM In reply to

    • moxxey
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    Re: Torben B. has been sacked!!!!!

    Bingo:

    Shouldn't  Bang&Olufsen go back to a pricelevel like ten years back and not get stuck with the same prices, even when flat panels LCD or Plasma got cheaper and better every year?

    I was wondering this morning what are the most expensive elements of the £6K BV7-32 (without the BS3)? My conclusion? The LCD technology - surely the most expensive element of the TV - which was researched, developed and produced by Samsung. I'm assuming, based on the price of the 32" Samsung, that this must be available as an OEM product for around £100/panel.

    The other thing that concerns me is that television economies of scale have reduced significantly over the last four years, since the BV7-32 was released, yet the BV7-32 remains the same TV - without any new innovation - that was designed in 2004. The panel is, effectively, the only part that has improved....yet this was, as mentioned, researched, developed and produced by Samsung and is probably 10x cheaper than it was to purchase as an OEM product, than in 2004.

    Yet the BV7-32 is still over £6K. I'm getting a headache thinking about the margins involved with this TV.

  • 01-10-2008 6:02 PM In reply to

    • 355f
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    Re: Torben B. has been sacked!!!!!

    moxxey:
    Bingo:

    Shouldn't  Bang&Olufsen go back to a pricelevel like ten years back and not get stuck with the same prices, even when flat panels LCD or Plasma got cheaper and better every year?

    I was wondering this morning what are the most expensive elements of the £6K BV7-32 (without the BS3)? My conclusion? The LCD technology - surely the most expensive element of the TV - which was researched, developed and produced by Samsung. I'm assuming, based on the price of the 32" Samsung, that this must be available as an OEM product for around £100/panel.

    The other thing that concerns me is that television economies of scale have reduced significantly over the last four years, since the BV7-32 was released, yet the BV7-32 remains the same TV - without any new innovation - that was designed in 2004. The panel is, effectively, the only part that has improved....yet this was, as mentioned, researched, developed and produced by Samsung and is probably 10x cheaper than it was to purchase as an OEM product, than in 2004.

    Yet the BV7-32 is still over £6K. I'm getting a headache thinking about the margins involved with this TV.

     

    60% gross margin is the answer when most mainstream brands are working on 10/18%

    the buying in price for the Samsung panel FOB is a good deal less than you suggest! nearer to $80

  • 01-10-2008 6:05 PM In reply to

    • 9 LEE
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    Re: Torben B. has been sacked!!!!!

    I think you'll find the tooling for making it, the design, R&D and marketing comes into play.  Huge amounts of investment for what is essentially a low-volume product, and this really bites in cost terms!

    I'm certainly not defending the £6,800 price tag - but the margins are probably not as mind-boggling as you might think.  However, what do we think the 7-32 is ACTUALLY worth as a TV?  If it had no price tag - what would you be prepared to pay for it, realistically.

    I feel a poll coming on.. shall i do one?  I can start it now! 

    Lee 

    BeoWorld - Everything Bang & Olufsen

  • 01-10-2008 6:07 PM In reply to

    Re: Torben B. has been sacked!!!!!

    I feel that a few critics are making the mistake of focusing too much on price, relative to a brand that is operating in the premium-to-luxury market. I can get a meal at Burger King, or I can go to El Bulli. I'd say that in spite of some weaknesses in the range, the B&O experience is still closer to El Bulli than to Burger King, and then it becomes somewhat unreasonable to be comparing their offering with the market averages -- after all, the integration, the premium service, the dealer network all costs money, as does the brand's insistence on production excellence.

    That said - I do not want to be served anything at El Bulli that even reminds me of a Burger King experience, and on that score I feel that a few of B&O's offerings have been too transparently opportunistic, particularly in recent years. They should also make up their mind as to whether they are into audio/video experiences or selling furniture and interior decoration.

    The urge to sell has been way too obviously on show for a luxury brand - at El Bulli the chef isn't out on the street shouting at passersby that there are tables available inside; and B&O's ads and newsletters have been mcuh too off-key in that respect (the recent Christmas "ad" for instance, stood out like a sore thumb in the magazines where it appeared.) Or look at the magalogue, which was supposed to be half catalogue and half brand stories/editorial -- already in the first magazine you saw the urge to catalogue up the whole thing.

    Maybe there are too many products, forcing the company to spread resources too thin. As to the knocks the BV8 is getting -- I don't see any other TVs out there even close to the BV8 as a statement in its category, and I'm not just defending my own purchase of one. I love the set, have no trouble with the picture quality and bought it for what it is - I'm using it with my computer, for cable and for playback of movies, etc. Works perfectly -- the Nintendo Wii problem above should be easily solved with a Scart Splitter, reducing the number of cable runs to the set - just put the splitter where you have a scart connected to your STB or similar).

     

  • 01-10-2008 6:40 PM In reply to

    • Alex
    • Top 25 Contributor
    • Joined on 04-16-2007
    • Bath & Cardiff, UK
    • Posts 2,990
    • Bronze Member

    Re: Torben B. has been sacked!!!!!

    9 LEE:

    I think you'll find the tooling for making it, the design, R&D and marketing comes into play.  Huge amounts of investment for what is essentially a low-volume product, and this really bites in cost terms!

    I'm certainly not defending the £6,800 price tag - but the margins are probably not as mind-boggling as you might think.  However, what do we think the 7-32 is ACTUALLY worth as a TV?  If it had no price tag - what would you be prepared to pay for it, realistically.

    I feel a poll coming on.. shall i do one?  I can start it now! 

    Lee 

    Might be a good idea. Smile

    One of the biggest costs in a B&O TV is the Anti-Reflection coating at the front.

    To give you an idea, my father is an optician, and coating a single pair of lenses for a pair of glasses costs around £40. Imagine how much bigger the B&O AR screens are...

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