General Forum

Re: Any questions for the new CEO ?

RWST — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 17:48:00 GMT

Really anxious to read the full report!

Thank you Lee and Peter for the opportunity given to ask questions to B&O's new CEO. You don't always get the chance to do that.

Richard

Ps. Congrats to Peter

Re: Any questions for the new CEO ?

Tod Daniel — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 17:30:32 GMT

Hey Lee wow sounds an amazing day! A very very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Peter from all of us!!!

Best

Paul

Re: Any questions for the new CEO ?

9 LEE — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 17:26:14 GMT

Hi all,

The interview went really well and was very enjoyable. Tue Mantoni is a man-machine though.. he went out for a run before he met us for breakfast at 7am, then we just bumped into him in the hotel lobby now at 11.30pm (where we assumed he had just finished work). However, he had someone waiting for a meeting with him - so his day hadn't even finished! There is no question of his enthusiasm, dynamism and passion for building the brand.

Of course, i'll be writing a full report upon my return - but i think we will see some really nice entry level products before we see some killer high-end products.

As for boxers or briefs? I think the man wears underpants.. on the outside... with a cape under his Hugo Boss suit jacket.

Thanks for all your questions, of which I think all were answered in one way or another.

Lee & Peter

(PS - Martin and his good lady joined us tonight for a meal on Veno (that's Dillen and Dullen) and what a lovely couple! We were also joined by Frede Kristensen of Classic Audio. The reason for the meal.. It was Peter's Birthday today!! He wanted to keep it secret.. oops...)

Re: Any questions for the new CEO ?

Tod Daniel — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 09:34:27 GMT

Hey Burantek good questions!

PS. Briefs all the way baby! ;)

Re: Any questions for the new CEO ?

burantek — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 08:47:43 GMT

Paul Winn:
TODAY'S THE DAY!

Oh sugar!

Quickly and randomly...

1.) You are known in motorcycling circles as one of the greatest influences in the history of Triumph (certainly the modern iteration)... You had the fortune (or misfortune) of the factory fire which offered a bit of a clean slate approach to your task at hand. Does B&o need a literal "factory fire" or would you consider the launch of BeoNet to be a good cutting off point?

2.) A lot of folks have issues w/ B&o products not made in Denmark. With the growth in Asian markets, do you see B&o advancing their presence in Asia from a manufacturing perspective? Can you afford not to?

3.) In the lean present economic times -are you increasing spending in R&D? If so, are you spending cash?

4.) The announcement of your move to B&o was within a month after the announcement of the potential Danisco deal. Red herring on my part -or might B&o be attempting to ripen themselves?

5.) Boxers or briefs?

Re: Any questions for the new CEO ?

Karla — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 08:41:12 GMT

Lee and Peter, have a great time today. Please don’t let him get away with just talking about all the new marketing channels for sales of the product, make sure that he talks about new products for the marketing channels.

Re: Any questions for the new CEO ?

Tod Daniel — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 06:10:07 GMT

Hey Lee & Peter TODAY'S THE DAY! Good luck on interviewing that geezer! Hope it's lots of fun and inspiring!

Re: Any questions for the new CEO ?

Tomaz — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 02:36:59 GMT

"B&O always used to be 'space-age' and cutting edge with its design and function (think sliding doors, etc). When are they going to go back to having the 'wow' factor? At the moment everything is sort of becoming 'MOTS'....."

I will take up this question from jonathan and continue

While everyone is moving away from mechanical moving elements concentrating their efforts towards the abstract digital including software and UI design.

Which importance will have mechanical designed products (like Beocenter2,Beosound1 ,Beovision 4-85 stand etc) in the future. Will B&o abandon this route or will we see more mechanically transforming products ?

Re: Any questions for the new CEO ?

Jonathan — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 18:49:40 GMT

®:

Q. Why can't I buy new B&O online, view prices and avoid the dealers?

Re: Any questions for the new CEO ?

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 15:00:32 GMT

Q. Why can't I buy new B&O online, view prices and avoid the dealers?

Re: Any questions for the new CEO ?

akoro — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 09:40:10 GMT

DrDimitris:

Not bad at all. It distantly resemples to my eyes to this:

Design wise yes - sound... well I have to be honest - I have never heard these loewe speakers so this is purely speculation but I highly doubt that those speakers are any good, even compared to the old BeoLab 5000.

Re: Any questions for the new CEO ?

TripEnglish — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 09:05:27 GMT

For most of B&O's history, media moves slowly. Decades of vinyl, a decade plus of tapes, two decades of CDs. A form factor could be introduced and stay relevant for the life of the media it dealt with, which helped to justify the price.

Now media moves quickly. A large investment can seem out of proportion with speed at which media formats are updated and new services come online and go dark.

How do you plan to keep an "investment quality" brand relevant during times of rapid innovation?

Re: Any questions for the new CEO ?

Tod Daniel — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 08:40:58 GMT

Great points from Karla and Chris!

Re: Any questions for the new CEO ?

Flappo — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 08:29:53 GMT

Paul has a point , I was at my beoshop last week and had a demo of the 7-55 , lovely tv , it looked amazing. Until I found out the price.

£17k ..

I thought it might be April 1st.

Somehow I doubt if that one flies off the shelves...

Re: Any questions for the new CEO ?

elephant — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 06:00:43 GMT

Karla:
Why do they keep building “dead end” systems which do not connect to the multi-link? B&O might call it a stand alone system and that it is designed to draw the customer to the B&O stores, but all it really does is create a substandard product which is expensive and doesn’t integrate with future purchases, and it discourages the customer from buying more products. It is sort of a bait and switch with the customer dollars.

I think something like a BeoSound 8 is extensible IFF B&O produce something like these ideas:

a Masterlink (or the new Beolink) black box that interfaces via the Apple iPod interface
an iPod shaped device that behaves like a Beolink Wireless

WHat I am trying to say, is produce a standalone box with industry standard interfaces ... but then provide black boxes like the BeoLink Active or ML/MCL Convertor to connect the industry standard interface into the B&O world

I am sure no one would complain at pay $500 to extend their $2,000 investment

On the other hand it would be nice if B&O learnt to price things like the BeoLink Active at a price point like the $150 for an Apple TV G2 !