General Forum

Re: Press release: new product categories

alenvprekrsku — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 06:35:58 GMT

Paul Winn:

OMG it looks like you've just died and are waiting in Heaven's waiting room!

B&O heaven!

Re: Press release: new product categories

Tod Daniel — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 06:33:47 GMT

OMG it looks like you've just died and are waiting in Heaven's waiting room!

Re: Press release: new product categories

Hiort — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 05:55:14 GMT

Paul Winn:

Nice point from Elephant. Yep, it would be very cool to see B&O products in restaurants! We have a lot of coffee houses near us that have their iPods proudly on display with nice looking B&W speakers dotted around the walls!

I wonder which boutique hotels and Maldives/Ski lodges are going to be the first to have BS8's in their properties! Exciting times!!!

This is a picture from a hotel i Stockholm (Nordic Light Hotel)

(more pics: http://www.nordiclighthotel.se/sv/Upplev-hotellet/Bildvisning2/)

Re: Press release: new product categories

Karla — Sun, 22 May 2011 15:37:11 GMT

There was a little coffee shop in our town that had a 9000 up on the wall. I noticed that everyone had arranged the chairs facing towards the unit much like a fireplace. Talk about making a statement.

Alas, that row of shops is now gone thanks to some sort of redevelopment that brought us another Big Box.

Re: Press release: new product categories

Tod Daniel — Sun, 22 May 2011 07:06:56 GMT

Nice point from Elephant. Yep, it would be very cool to see B&O products in restaurants! We have a lot of coffee houses near us that have their iPods proudly on display with nice looking B&W speakers dotted around the walls!

I wonder which boutique hotels and Maldives/Ski lodges are going to be the first to have BS8's in their properties! Exciting times!!!

Re: Press release: new product categories

Michael — Sun, 22 May 2011 00:33:45 GMT

Hi Ed, Interesting reply,. If, I too, were a dealer I would be pleased in the strategy. Wishing them all the best for execution. Thanks to Beo d for the link.

Hi Paul, if you think the prices are high, I should send you the Australian price list lol. Prices are high, but then again they have a lot of competition at that price point, even from 'regular' brands such as Pioneer and Yamaha.

Re: Press release: new product categories

elephant — Sat, 21 May 2011 19:57:15 GMT

beo_d:

More information:

http://www.bang-olufsen.de/beonews/New_product_category.wmv

Very interesting - I watched it twice, and probably should watch it a third time to pick up all the nuances

If I were a dealer I think I would be pleased with the strategy - broaden the base (new casual products and channel, if airport stores then they must be portable :) and in a world of instant gratification if they were noise cancelling headphones you could use them on the flight !) and create more touch points in the market (hotels, cars, ... I also think they should go after up market stores and restaurants, I can always tell when the background music is going from Bose or something better - when I hear the difference I go looking for what speakers are being used ! particularly if they couple that "enterprise" solution with something like an iPad, I was at a restaurant the other week where the music iPad was on proud display showing the cover art as part of the decor)

In some ways its a bit like the Apple virtuous circle strategy ... the iPods created the awareness, the Apple retail outlets built the momentum, the iPhone expanded the awareness and leveraged the customers' early investments in content, and the follow on products (the Air et al, the iPad, and perhaps even the ATV) broadened the revenue streams and create more lock in and loyalty

all in all I am impressed, but I suspect it will take around 6 months before they can execute the plan and we will see the results

Re: Press release: new product categories

Tod Daniel — Sat, 21 May 2011 19:16:16 GMT

Hi Michael, Yes in B&O terms 25,000 units in 6 mths is amazing. As a example the BeoSound 1 sold a tiny 100,000 in its 10 years! All small compared to say the iPad which has sold 20million in 1 year!

I think i was slightly out of touch with B&O prices is the BS5 really £4500 and BL3 now £2900 if so im really really shocked! There's no wonder B&O are in such financial difficulty with prices like that. Gosh, it almost makes the BV10 a bargain! For some reason, I thought the BL3s were £2300

Re: Press release: new product categories

Michael — Sat, 21 May 2011 18:32:11 GMT

I'm not 100% sure if B&O need to stick to Apple like a limpet. It's B&O, not Apple. If i wanted an Apple product, i'd buy apple (which I do). I am thankful for integration in B&O products, but Apple also need to come to the party too.

Apple doesn't support DLNA and would be wise to do so. It would be nice to have my content on my time capsule accessible anywhere like a regular NAS; and it's not, because it's Apple.

But back on the bandwagon, I think Stand Alone solutions are also good. I think that Tue isn't solely speaking about the BS8 meaning standalone, could this be also telephones, headphones, etc.

I hope it's a successful move for the company, bring on the new categories and hightened web presence. And just on that, is 25000 units really considered a sales success?

Re: Press release: new product categories

Tod Daniel — Sat, 21 May 2011 18:14:25 GMT

BeoVision 1 was very weird and showed bad planning by B&O at the time as when BV1 was launched, the rest of the world was buying widescreen televisions! It was crazy and I never understood that model. I'm sure though, it would have looked beautiful as a widescreen television!

Re: Press release: new product categories

Karla — Sat, 21 May 2011 17:26:41 GMT

This is exactlly my point! Bring these introduction products to market, but make sure they work with the core products. Make sure that the ML is in the new products and the public will not only have the option to expand, they will have the desire to find out what this ML can do for them.

Re: Press release: new product categories

Blackrix — Sat, 21 May 2011 16:15:10 GMT

Stand alone products is nothing new for Bang & Olufsen! At the end of the last century Bang & Olufsen introduced a stand-alone product to attract new costumers to the brand. It even had a different remote! Very soon after the introduction BeoVision 1 was updated with ML due to demand from the market, and it was not stand-alone anymore. Even the different remote disappeared. So it's not a new product category at all, it is more than 10 years old!

Re: Press release: new product categories

Tod Daniel — Sat, 21 May 2011 15:50:01 GMT

TOTALLY agree with Flappo and Bsantini. It's the way of the music industry now and for the foreseeable future!

I've got a lot of faith in that CEO! Having BS8 in Apple stores is THE way to get the brand over to the young. No matter which city you are in, those Apple stores are crammed packed with youngsters 30, 40, 50 at a time!!! They are spending a fortune on BEATS headphones, when they see the BS8, they are so going to put that on top of their Christmas wish list!!!

Re: Press release: new product categories

bsantini — Sat, 21 May 2011 14:59:19 GMT

Yesterday's announcement bu Apple that they are just completeing streaming agreements with the 4 big Music/media companies, (including Universal - who has NOT agreed previously to Itunes distribution), should send a clear signal...once and for all, that B&O better wake up, smell the coffe, and prioritze Apple compatibility...not Windows/MS

Barry

Re: Press release: new product categories

Flappo — Sat, 21 May 2011 14:47:37 GMT

They need to stick to Apple like a limpet. The massive success of the BS8 should be proof enough of that to the ceo and board.