General Forum

Re: New Products

Beolab — Sun, 22 May 2011 04:16:27 GMT

I think Bv7-40 3D and 7-55 3D with USB??

Re: New Products

Jez — Fri, 20 May 2011 05:17:26 GMT

Yes, I understand the fundamental difference but it's much the same thing. An entire car stereo is more than just a part. McLaren's entire engine is made by Riccardo, that's more than just a part. Sure it's one part of the car and not the entire unit, but we're not talking wire loom here. Designed by McLaren and manufactured to their spec by an outsource. Why? Because it's cheaper, the same reason B&O have taken the same path. Like I said before, if the quality is still there....

Re: New Products

Alex — Thu, 19 May 2011 22:47:51 GMT

Jez:

Alex:

Ferrari doesn't need to worry about outsourcing manufacturing because there's always a demand for their product regardless of price. Furthermore, buyers are always prepared to make a significant investment in an automobile. Same applies to watches and jewelry. Consumer electronics is a completely different animal. Bang & Olufsen is simply doing exactly what they need to do to remain competitive in a rapidly changing market.

Not entirely true, Ferrari outsource thier brakes to Bremo, electronics to Magneti Marelli, Wheels to BBS, rubber is obviously outsourced as is the sound system and GPS system. Not to mention the design being outsourced and done by Pininfarina. However it's still majority made in house and assembled at Fearrari's home town Maranello. Not so with many new B&O products. You are right though, the demand for high performance sports cars has boomed. Look at the price jump from the old F430 to it's replacement 458 Italia or McLaren launching an entire car production, starting with the MP4-12C in a financial crisis! However home electronics has taken a different turn with many brands struggling or disapearing. It's the culture now to manufacture off shore in electronics, else you wont survive and as long as B&O survie then I'm happy . As long as the quality is still there and the brands values don't change then i'll always be a fan and use their products. I was sceptical of the BS8 at first but if I wasn't told it was made in China I wouldn't have known, it's a psychological thing I guess.

The operative word in my original statement was outsourcing manufacturing, not parts! Afterall, it's 2011 ... there isnt a manufacturer on the planet that doesn't source parts or materials from someone else!

Re: New Products

Alex — Thu, 19 May 2011 22:42:36 GMT

beojeff:

expoman:

Spoken like a true salesman.

Indeed! I'd like to hope that I shouldn't need to sell my BeoSystem 3 that isn't even a year and a half old yet. I'd certainly be willing to pay $1,000 to $2,000 for servicing to upgrade the HDMI 1.1 to HDMI 1.4, though.

I'm sorry I didn't realize being honest could be interpreted as a sales pitch. Ask your store when the parts are available and you'll get the same answer. You're simply not going to be able to update it for $1,000 or $2,000 so you might not want to get your hopes up. And again as I mentioned in a previous thread none of the HDMI 1.4 goodies besides 3D passthrough will be present so unless you have a 3D panel that will handle the signal there's no point in upgrading.

Re: New Products

Jez — Wed, 18 May 2011 16:28:41 GMT

Alex:

Ferrari doesn't need to worry about outsourcing manufacturing because there's always a demand for their product regardless of price. Furthermore, buyers are always prepared to make a significant investment in an automobile. Same applies to watches and jewelry. Consumer electronics is a completely different animal. Bang & Olufsen is simply doing exactly what they need to do to remain competitive in a rapidly changing market.

Not entirely true, Ferrari outsource thier brakes to Bremo, electronics to Magneti Marelli, Wheels to BBS, rubber is obviously outsourced as is the sound system and GPS system. Not to mention the design being outsourced and done by Pininfarina. However it's still majority made in house and assembled at Fearrari's home town Maranello. Not so with many new B&O products. You are right though, the demand for high performance sports cars has boomed. Look at the price jump from the old F430 to it's replacement 458 Italia or McLaren launching an entire car production, starting with the MP4-12C in a financial crisis! However home electronics has taken a different turn with many brands struggling or disapearing. It's the culture now to manufacture off shore in electronics, else you wont survive and as long as B&O survie then I'm happy . As long as the quality is still there and the brands values don't change then i'll always be a fan and use their products. I was sceptical of the BS8 at first but if I wasn't told it was made in China I wouldn't have known, it's a psychological thing I guess.

Re: New Products

TripEnglish — Wed, 18 May 2011 16:05:57 GMT

At least if you did this you could make some claim that the product was now manufactured in whatever country you live in.

Re: New Products

beojeff — Wed, 18 May 2011 15:13:12 GMT

expoman:

Spoken like a true salesman.

Indeed! I'd like to hope that I shouldn't need to sell my BeoSystem 3 that isn't even a year and a half old yet. I'd certainly be willing to pay $1,000 to $2,000 for servicing to upgrade the HDMI 1.1 to HDMI 1.4, though.

Re: New Products

expoman — Wed, 18 May 2011 09:52:08 GMT

Spoken like a true salesman.

Re: New Products

Alex — Tue, 17 May 2011 23:47:48 GMT

Technically yes but you're talking about a gigantic waste of money. You're essentially buying almost all the non-cosmetic parts and paying for the labor for your System 3 to be rebuilt from the ground up while still keeping your original (and possibly expired) warranty. You're better off selling your BeoSystem 3 second hand and spending the extra cash on a System 3D with a new guarantee

Re: New Products

Alex — Tue, 17 May 2011 23:40:26 GMT

Jez:

I'm of the same opinion to an extent. Parts made elsewhere sure. As a flagship brand though it's a little borderline. Would you buy a Ferrari if it was designed in Italy but made in a different Country or would your buy a Swiss designed watch that was made in China? I know BMW produce most of thier cars elsewhere in South Africa and save the local production in Baveria for thier Flagship 7 seriers and M seriers.

I think you're comparing apples to oranges here. There's a very large demand for luxury automobiles. Ferrari doesn't need to worry about outsourcing manufacturing because there's always a demand for their product regardless of price. Furthermore, buyers are always prepared to make a significant investment in an automobile. Same applies to watches and jewelry. Consumer electronics is a completely different animal. Bang & Olufsen is simply doing exactly what they need to do to remain competitive in a rapidly changing market.

Re: New Products

beojeff — Tue, 17 May 2011 17:27:21 GMT

Does anyone know if the current BeoSystem 3 will be upgradeable to 3D or will it be necessary to buy the new BeoSystem 3 3D? It would seem that the big obstacle is the lack of HDMI 1.4.

Re: New Products

moxxey — Tue, 17 May 2011 16:27:48 GMT

Flappo:

I was at my local dealer this morning ( Knightsbridge ) & they told me that there will be 3 x 3d bno tv's out July / August this year

Yep, these are just 3D versions of the existing BV7's, unless I'm mistaken?

Not sure if I'd bother upgrading my BV7-40 to a 3D version. I'd only be interested if there was a panel between 40" and 55", and there won't be. No idea why there's a BV10-40/BV7-40 and a BV10-55/BV7-55, but no BV10-46/BV7-46. Surely they must be using the same panel(s) going forward, so economies of scale would enable a BV7-46. I guess it's the need to produce yet another BL7.x speaker that is prevening this.

Re: New Products

Chris — Tue, 17 May 2011 14:33:51 GMT

I accept B&O is a premium product, but every manufacturer of such products has an entry level product. The Beovision 8 isn't that product. Making whats at best a "transient" technology in 3D is nice, but a waste of recourses, and bad long term thinking in my book. Take a leaf out of the Beosound 8's book. Twice as good as some of its competitors, but not 7-10 times the cost!

And thats where the future customers will come from. Not only new to B&O ,but new types of people to B&O in respect of their backgrounds or demographics.

Re: New Products

Flappo — Tue, 17 May 2011 14:16:06 GMT

I was at my local dealer this morning ( Knightsbridge ) & they told me that there will be 3 x 3d bno tv's out July / August this year , the bv 7 is the one to look out for he said.

Got a demo of the 7/40 & the stunning 7/55

The 55 is simply a masterpiece imo.

Imagine THAT in 3d !!!

Re: New Products

Jez — Tue, 17 May 2011 13:32:20 GMT

I sure am but this thread went off topic donkies ago