General Forum

Re: THE LARS FLYVHOLM INTERVIEW - 2008

355f — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 07:17:24 GMT

benjnz:

Not really doomed though are they, it will just result in a slight fall in sales nothing else. After all being a luxury high end brand, the customer who would faint over any B&O price is arguably not their target market. They're moving more into the - "If you have to ask the price tag, then you can't afford it" area of sales, for a lot of their products. Once economic times get better, they'll do well again.
Again the other side of the argument is there are the lower end models e.g., BV8 which cater for the "starter level" customers

'They are moving more into gthe luxury high end market- if you have to ask the proce you cant afford it'

B&O moved into this position several years ago and we have seen the results of that policy. When consumer electronics as a whole is dropping alarmingly in price- and continues to do so- no one is going to pay 9 times the cost for a plasma or 20 times the cost for an LCD. The breed of customer you cares not about price will not keep a fairly large dealer network alive. The BV8 for 'starter level customers' not at that price!

Im afraid the 'luxury high end market' is an area filled with companies that produce products that are far technically superior and provide to a very niche upmarket customer- the type who would not buy B&O for a start.

B&O has set itself up as a mass market lifestyle brand with many many outlets- so they wont survive looking for barking millionaires im afraid. As for a slight drop in sales- its going to be a more drastic drop to come unless the prices drop

Re: THE LARS FLYVHOLM INTERVIEW - 2008

benjnz — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 17:43:01 GMT

Not really doomed though are they, it will just result in a slight fall in sales nothing else. After all being a luxury high end brand, the customer who would faint over any B&O price is arguably not their target market. They're moving more into the - "If you have to ask the price tag, then you can't afford it" area of sales, for a lot of their products. Once economic times get better, they'll do well again.

Again the other side of the argument is there are the lower end models e.g., BV8 which cater for the "starter level" customers

Re: THE LARS FLYVHOLM INTERVIEW - 2008

355f — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 07:19:59 GMT

TWG:

there is vo valid argument to keep the high sale price when they can manufacture the product for 70% less. But they don't lower the price.

10.000 Euro for a "Made in China" B&O-TV? They can fool another one but not me.

And believe me, people want quality. While moving the production e.g. to China B&O is just BOSE: Design and nothing anymore.
But this is a common problem: Managers are to dumb for high quality productions, they just have the dollarsign in their eyes ;-)

I think that B&O will soon realise that charging £9500 for a bv7 for example is not going to work and that the new purchasing 'savings' will result in products being brought to te market sooner and cheaper.

If the strategy is to source it cheaper and charge the same prices B&O are doomed

Re: THE LARS FLYVHOLM INTERVIEW - 2008

TWG — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 05:12:15 GMT

there is vo valid argument to keep the high sale price when they can manufacture the product for 70% less. But they don't lower the price.

10.000 Euro for a "Made in China" B&O-TV? They can fool another one but not me.

And believe me, people want quality. While moving the production e.g. to China B&O is just BOSE: Design and nothing anymore.
But this is a common problem: Managers are to dumb for high quality productions, they just have the dollarsign in their eyes ;-)

Re: THE LARS FLYVHOLM INTERVIEW - 2008

Puncher — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 04:59:11 GMT

I don't prescribe to the "Must be made in Denmark" argument - it truly gives nothing more than the declaration on the rating plate. There is no valid reason why very high quality products can not be made in China (or Eastern Europe), indeed they are, everyday!

There may be other, bigger questions, are the workforce exploited, is this cost saving passed on to the customer etc. but a reduction in quality in definitely not a given.

Re: THE LARS FLYVHOLM INTERVIEW - 2008

355f — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 02:51:10 GMT

There will always be examples of companies who continue to produce in their home countries- how profitable they are and how long they wil last is another issue.

Fact is im not aware of one high end brand that is not sourcing, part developing or considering a complete move to China. pricing is under great pressure and its impossible to market product that ones opposition can buy for 70% less in China.

It was possible over the past 70 years becuase there was less competition in the market and China was n ot a force to be reckoned with.

Just in development time alone the european companies cannot compete.

B&O therefore have no choice- however, what is a concern is if they use the opportunity simply to buy cheaper but charge the same alarming prices. Flat screens from B&O need to drop by 40%

Re: THE LARS FLYVHOLM INTERVIEW - 2008

saf — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 19:48:06 GMT

Is Lars still working for B&O?!

- Or is it just that companies get really soft when going gets really tough?

I think I could have a beer or two with him ...

Re: THE LARS FLYVHOLM INTERVIEW - 2008

TWG — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 23:27:17 GMT

Congratulations Lee,

very well done! Thank you.

In one case it seems as B&O thinks their customers are dumb people:

Production in Denmark is not possible due to high costs? I'm asking myself how it was possible the 70 years before? Did they make NO profit the last 70 years?

C'mon guys, we are not dumb!
It's a shame for B&O because other companies like german T+A are showing that "home-production" is NO argument! T+A is a german highend audio-/video-company; same price range as B&O, REAL high quality and where do they produce? In Germany!
http://www.taelektroakustik.de/eng/index.htm

It's clear that it is easy to buy specific software, parts and machines, okay. But the main process should stay in the home country!
Look at the products like Beovision AVANT. When people have a look at this "monster" they know, feel and hear that this is an expensive product which is realy worth its money!
Than look at todays TVs and people will ask you if you're insane asking that much money for a product that is outdated every 6 months and has the same "Made in Czech, China etc." Label like other brands. This is in my opinion NOT a B&O experience anymore!

Very sad about this.

Re: THE LARS FLYVHOLM INTERVIEW - 2008

darioazul — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 20:15:02 GMT

Dear All:

Lee well done. I wonder how much it will cost to upgrade the BV 7 to Blue Ray in the US?

Any ideas?

Dario

Re: THE LARS FLYVHOLM INTERVIEW - 2008

mobeyone — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 08:08:49 GMT

Job well done Lee, sounds very open and honest which is needed at this moment... shame the banks could not do the same thing hey...

Interesting blend of questions and answers, I was hoping that he would have given more insight into where the brand will be.. Lars does elude to the "magic" that B&O today seems to be missing but how they translate that into future prodcuts does sound challenging....

Re: THE LARS FLYVHOLM INTERVIEW - 2008

rmclachlan — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 18:10:52 GMT

I am not sure I entirely buy into why B&O TV products are many times more expensive than competing products. "Brand Value" & "Buying Experience" are fairly intangible, and in a buoyant market will work fairly well to attract sales. However given the current financial crisis they will not save B&O if the actual product is deemed to be either inferior or equal to a product many times cheaper. The only way out of this is to produce technologically competent products at a much cheaper price point to bring buyers into the store. I do not think it is a good idea to compare their products like Mercedes et al. There is blood on the streets in the car market at the moment, the dealers of premium products are having a very difficult time, I do not imagine that B&O dealers are any different. It is telling that B&O have had little market growth in the UK even at the height of the recent boom. I suspect that B&O's pricing policy ot their TVs may well be their ultimate undoing. They need killer products at a x2 x 3 x4 price point over the competition, not x7, x8, they are cutting too much of the market adrift. I am sure the dealers would prefer products that allow them to compete effectively. Of course the problem may be the distribution channel is too reliant on low volume/high markup to allow it to compete effectively.

Re: THE LARS FLYVHOLM INTERVIEW - 2008

Alex — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 16:12:29 GMT

Christian:
mason:
So Beosound 5 is NOT by David Lewis. Interesting. Maybe they have pulled Jensen out of retirement.
No AFAIK it is done by Anders Hermansen (A8, EarSet 1, 2 & 3 and BeoLab 2000).

All designs I like! I personally thought the BeoLab 2000 was one of B&O's best products at the time. Shame it's gone...

The review reads well. Everything he says makes perfect sense to me!

Re: THE LARS FLYVHOLM INTERVIEW - 2008

GuyHui — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 14:49:42 GMT

Thanks a lot for this interview. I have learnt more facts about B&O. Meantime, I am waiting the BS5 with impatience.

Guy

Re: THE LARS FLYVHOLM INTERVIEW - 2008

Christian — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 13:57:15 GMT

mason:
So Beosound 5 is NOT by David Lewis. Interesting. Maybe they have pulled Jensen out of retirement.

No AFAIK it is done by Anders Hermansen (A8, EarSet 1, 2 & 3 and BeoLab 2000).

Re: THE LARS FLYVHOLM INTERVIEW - 2008

mason — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 13:35:27 GMT

So Beosound 5 is NOT by David Lewis. Interesting. Maybe they have pulled Jensen out of retirement.