The 'Samsung copying B&O products' thing is a major factor as to why I no longer by new B&O products. They made a version of the Serenata and - being a LOT cheaper - put me off upgrading my Serene to it. Now that they've done a BS2 rip-off, I'm vaguely glad I switched to an iPod Touch. At least it still has a few unique features. Certainly, my old argument about coolnesss wouldn't wash if my friends knew that my £500 mp3 player was also available in Currys or the like for a fraction of the price.
Honestly, I don't see what B&O are playing at. They make a product, get it made by Samsung, then Samsung sell it themselves a bit cheaper. I suppose B&O are playing on the branding and the knowledge that they can keep selling on the basis that people want to show off their wealth and don't care about the product as long as it's expensive enough to impress their friends. I also suppose that it will work to an extent, but they will lose a lot of normal customers. For every £100,000 deal with a show-off millionaire, they'll be losing £80,000 in everyday customers. I agree that it makes sense financially, but there's the old phrase about putting too many eggs in one basket. For now, I'll stick to the older products