General Forum

Re: B & O Beosound 3: Made in China? Other products, too?

soundproof — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 08:09:57 GMT

ChrisS:
Don't want to shatter too many people's dreams but most Nokia phones are now made in China, as are a lot of Sony products.
But how many of you know that if you drive a Jeep Cherokee, BMW X3 or Chrysler Voyager it was built in Austria by a company called Magna Steyr (they also manufacture some low volume models for VW, Mercedes and Saab) and - here's one for the Porsche fans - the Boxster's and Caymans are all made in Finland by a company called Valmet.
Whether that matters depends on your viewpoint. It would be nice to think that B&O stuff was made in Denmark but this is the real world.
Chris

Magna Steyr do the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Commander - but not the Cherokee model.

Yes, there are some surprises lying in wait for the brand aficionado who scratches the surface too deep!

Re: B & O Beosound 3: Made in China? Other products, too?

ChrisS — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 07:36:39 GMT

Don't want to shatter too many people's dreams but most Nokia phones are now made in China, as are a lot of Sony products.

But how many of you know that if you drive a Jeep Cherokee, BMW X3 or Chrysler Voyager it was built in Austria by a company called Magna Steyr (they also manufacture some low volume models for VW, Mercedes and Saab) and - here's one for the Porsche fans - the Boxster's and Caymans are all made in Finland by a company called Valmet.

Whether that matters depends on your viewpoint. It would be nice to think that B&O stuff was made in Denmark but this is the real world.

Chris

Re: B & O Beosound 3: Made in China? Other products, too?

joff135 — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 16:18:15 GMT

TWG:
-------------------
I wear a Breitling watch...anything to do with you T.W.G? After i bought it i had a problem immediately and Breitling said that they would change the face and the whole automatic works in it...s
----------------

@joff135: Could you describe the 1st part "anything to do with you T.W.G?" a little bit; I'm unsure about the right translation :)

But I fully understand your position with the Breitling watch! On a VERTU-mobile phone you won't ever find
"Made in China"

T.W.G are the main Breitling watch distributer and servicing agents in the UK...i just thought that you might be the MD!

Re: B & O Beosound 3: Made in China? Other products, too?

soundproof — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 12:18:01 GMT

Beo:
well, let's stop this discussion... if there is any chinese in this forum, i hope we should not continue this topic.. the reason is ... why do they only write in chinese for the "made in Austria". Everyone knows if B&O wanna let all know, they should write in english. But now... it is written in chinese. why? because only chinese wanna know this "meaningless" fact. Actually, who will care where it is made when B&O means a perfect product condition?

As a chinese, i feel shy on this. Once again, chinese become a joke of the rest of the world. so please... forget this, and enjoy a wonderful B&O world.

Didn't catch that fact. I agree that Chinese writing for the Austrian market is somewhat off-key. Maybe a mistake was made in shipment? You should check with your dealer.

Re: B & O Beosound 3: Made in China? Other products, too?

Beo — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 12:03:23 GMT

well, let's stop this discussion... if there is any chinese in this forum, i hope we should not continue this topic.. the reason is ... why do they only write in chinese for the "made in Austria". Everyone knows if B&O wanna let all know, they should write in english. But now... it is written in chinese. why? because only chinese wanna know this "meaningless" fact. Actually, who will care where it is made when B&O means a perfect product condition?

As a chinese, i feel shy on this. Once again, chinese become a joke of the rest of the world. so please... forget this, and enjoy a wonderful B&O world.

Re: B & O Beosound 3: Made in China? Other products, too?

soundproof — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 07:37:27 GMT

TWG:
So why did B&O print "Made in Koprivnice." with a chinese label? Are they ashamed to print it readable on their products?

Because they sell quite a lot of products to wealthy Chinese. And it is readable in other languages, depending upon where you bought your unit.

Quite a few high-end audiophile manufacturers are getting their production done in China. And some of the world's absolutely most extravagantly expensive audiophile gear has been made in China for many years, for the Chinese, but also available for outside buyers, of course. You would have been amazed by what was on display at the Guanzhou AV Fair in 2006.

Here's a brief survey from 2003 listing which well known Hi-Fi brands are just rebadging Chinese components and reselling them in the West. You'll be surprised.
http://www.xs4all.nl/~viver/chinese%20hi-end/iwanttoknow.html

If you can stand the wild graphics, then cattylink gives you a big overview of the best in Chinese Hi-Fi:

http://www.cattylink.com/

China is the world's second biggest Hi-Fi market, and they are avid for the super high-end:

http://www.smarthousenews.com.au/Real_Hi_Fi/Industry?Article=/Real%20Hi%20Fi/Industry/W4F7N2T8

http://www.stereophile.com/news/040405china/

Re: B & O Beosound 3: Made in China? Other products, too?

TWG — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 05:15:24 GMT

-------------------------

By the way, I hope you don't own an LCD Beovision, because the screen sure is not made in Denmark or Europe. Think of it...

---------------

I know about this point and it's ok. You can't produce all components by yourself these days.

The LCD-Panels are from Japan or China (Sharp, Sony, Philips), the CD-drives are from Philips, you have to buy semiconductors from the companies etc. pp.

That's all ok, but you can build the components together in your home-country :)

Re: B & O Beosound 3: Made in China? Other products, too?

TWG — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 04:43:54 GMT

-------------------

I wear a Breitling watch...anything to do with you T.W.G? After i bought it i had a problem immediately and Breitling said that they would change the face and the whole automatic works in it...s

----------------

@joff135: Could you describe the 1st part "anything to do with you T.W.G?" a little bit; I'm unsure about the right translation :)

But I fully understand your position with the Breitling watch! On a VERTU-mobile phone you won't ever find

"Made in China"

Re: B & O Beosound 3: Made in China? Other products, too?

Tom — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 18:20:48 GMT

I don't care that much about where my B&O stuff is made, as long as it's qualitiy is at the same high level and it sounds just great. We live in a globalised world, so does B&O...

Re: B & O Beosound 3: Made in China? Other products, too?

joff135 — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 13:30:03 GMT

My Lab 4s have a chinese label on them and i never really got an answer about where they were made...Czech seems to ring a bell...they still look and sound fab though.

I wear a Breitling watch...anything to do with you T.W.G? After i bought it i had a problem immediately and Breitling said that they would change the face and the whole automatic works in it...so basically the only original parts left of my watch would be the case, glass and strap. I refused having paid a couple of grand for it...i told them that i wanted a watch that was manufactured in Switzerland not the UK...and they finally changed it for a new one!

Re: B & O Beosound 3: Made in China? Other products, too?

SWISS_2 — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 13:05:14 GMT

Manufacturing costs rise annually. Supplies of materials rise annually, and in some cases monthly. What would you think R & D expenses are they days with any world-known designer and his staff ?

If Bang & Olufsen develops a good looking, functional and integrated design ( costing unknown millions of Euros ) why can't it be manufactured, or subcontracted out ? And if it is, why is middle Europe somewhat more acceptable than Asia ?

In fact, Sony does subcontract out assembly parts, and I can state that Porsche does also. Anyone take a look at the Porsche balance sheet these days ? It is very profitable, and more importantly the product is very good.

So is Bang & Olufsen..

Re: B & O Beosound 3: Made in China? Other products, too?

TWG — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 12:38:23 GMT

So why did B&O print "Made in Koprivnice." with a chinese label? Are they ashamed to print it readable on their products? :) It's not only a matter of quality where a product is manufactured. So you pay 7000 Euro for a B&O Television which is made for 300 Euro in Czech ... It's a difference in my opinion: If they can produce cheap, they can sell cheaper! But they don't. It's ok if B & O decides to produce in China or any other cheap country; but then they should give the cheaper cost through to their customers. Think this discussion woud be much easier for me in german ;-)

Re: B & O Beosound 3: Made in China? Other products, too?

mobeyone — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 12:29:20 GMT

The Chinese economy is probably the strongest and most stable at the moment so dismiss at your peril!

They are no longer producers of all things rubbish and are rivalling the best which can only bre a good thing as this will help competition etc.

Re: B & O Beosound 3: Made in China? Other products, too?

expoman — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 10:42:26 GMT

I had a friend of mine from China look at the label and she said it translates to Made in Koprivnice. Which means the Czech factory.

Re: B & O Beosound 3: Made in China? Other products, too?

Tom — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 10:15:42 GMT

TWG:
These days it's hard to find a product NOT made in china.

But have a look:

- Nokia: Made in Finnland
- Sony: Made in Japan
- Porsche: Made in Germany
...

You get it? ;) If B & O Products will be made in China or Czech etc. they will loose a customer. Than the Beosund 3 was the last piece of B & O Hardware I bought.

I don't understand this position. I'm sure in a Porsche, you will find more than one item which is made in China. B&O are producing in Danmark and in the Czech Republic. I'm sure there are items in the products that are made in China. In my eyes, it is caracteristic of the globalised world. But as long as the quality of the products stays as high as it is, I don't really care about where they are produced.

By the way, I hope you don't own an LCD Beovision, because the screen sure is not made in Denmark or Europe. Think of it...