ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022READ ONLY FORUM
This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21992700
The number one problem is consumer demand for lower prices. I wouldn't like to be producing a 55" TV for under £1000, but that's what some consumers are demanding. Result is, manufacturing moves to China, cheaper components are sourced, profits are non-existent and you're on a continuous downward spiral trying to reduce prices further to get another sale.
I was watching a programme the other day where they featured "quality" speakers. The speakers were no more than about £500. That's what they regarded as expensive. That's the problem these days - people want cool looking items, that don't necessarily perform, at rock bottom prices.
What they don't realise is that they are killing their own economy (Sony TVs used to be manufactured in Wales!) and getting ever-reducing sub-standard build quality as something has to give and the quality can't be maintained if a consumer wants a £500 large screen TV or "top quality" pair of speakers at £200.
moxxey: ...What they don't realise is that they are killing their own economy (Sony TVs used to be manufactured in Wales!) and getting ever-reducing sub-standard build quality as something has to give and the quality can't be maintained if a consumer wants a £500 large screen TV or "top quality" pair of speakers at £200.
...What they don't realise is that they are killing their own economy (Sony TVs used to be manufactured in Wales!) and getting ever-reducing sub-standard build quality as something has to give and the quality can't be maintained if a consumer wants a £500 large screen TV or "top quality" pair of speakers at £200.
Yes, and they kill economics, industry, jobs... from Europe by that, soon they have no option but buy cheap as possible because all money went to China... In some timescale it raises economy, salary and prices there, but hey, there is a lot cheap labor around the globe to make cheap stuff and band goes on. So sad, there is allways somebody who has to pay the price after all.
blah-blah and photographs as needed
Back in the early to mid 1990s I remember when Sony was at the top of their game. It was the first brand I really lusted after their high end products and almost everything they made, from the Pressman tape recorders and Watchman portable TVs to the 3CCD Handycams and ES audio gear felt sturdy and of immediate apparent quality. Of course, 90 percent of everything they made at that time was actually made in Japan. As for the Trinitron TVs, they had a lot of regional manufacturing centers, including one in San Diego, CA. Today Sony is a mere shell of its former self, a victim of the "$9.99" mentality. I never thought I would have seen the day where Sony was a brand prominently displayed at the likes of Wal-Mart and Target stores but well, here we are.
And the irony? They went downmarket to appease the ever growing demand for cheap goods... yet they're in a worse financial position today than they ever were back then.
Totally agree, I remember in my younger days in the late 1980s I saved and saved to buy my first HiFi separates system. Part of that collection was a Sony Professional Walkman cassette player, the build and sound quality of that piece of kit was just amazing, it went everywhere with me!
I remember auditioning the Walkman (price then around £250), against a top of the range Nakamichi cassette deck costing nearly £1000, and the Nakamichi was to my ears was only marginally better.
Incredible engineering in such a small package.
Playdrv4me:Back in the early to mid 1990s I remember when Sony was at the top of their game. It was the first brand I really lusted after their high end products and almost everything they made, from the Pressman tape recorders and Watchman portable TVs to the 3CCD Handycams and ES audio gear felt sturdy and of immediate apparent quality. Of course, 90 percent of everything they made at that time was actually made in Japan. As for the Trinitron TVs, they had a lot of regional manufacturing centers, including one in San Diego, CA. Today Sony is a mere shell of its former self, a victim of the "$9.99" mentality. I never thought I would have seen the day where Sony was a brand prominently displayed at the likes of Wal-Mart and Target stores but well, here we are. And the irony? They went downmarket to appease the ever growing demand for cheap goods... yet they're in a worse financial position today than they ever were back then. BeoSound 2500, BeoSound 9000, BeoMaster 7000, BeoCord 7000, B&o CD changer, BeoLink 1000 1, BeoLink 1000 2, BeoLink 7000, Beo4, BeoLab 1, BeoLab 4000, BeoVox RL6000 (x2)
Beosound Stage, Beovision 8-40, Beolit 20, Beosound Explore.
Honestly, I think this is why I went on a sudden "Beo binge" recently when I rediscovered B&o after recalling my experiences seeing the Beolink 7000 when I was a kid. I bought the silly 7000 remote, then I wanted the receiver that went with it, and then the Beosound 9000 and then the speakers and so on and so on. It was like I had found a little pot of gold with this old stuff after being so used to the plasticky marginally built junk that is out there today.
Seriously, the first time I picked up my Beomaster 7000 I nearly dropped it not expecting at all that it was going to weigh so much after being conditioned to so many light-weight tinny boxes today. And here's the thing, it's not just building things out of metal that is enough. For example, my Apple gadgets are pretty, but there's still something about them that doesn't feel really precise, built to a cost rather than a standard. Sure, better than most anything else (with the possible exception of Thinkpads, even under their more cheapened "Lenovo" re-branding), but when everything else is cheap plastic, that's not much of a standard. The article above mentions Sharp, and I think that's a great example of this... If anyone remembers the Sharp Zaurus and Sharp Wizard organizers of the late '80s and '90s, some of them had a really tactilly appeasing leather grain like rubbery material on the outside with beautifully engineered and tight seams, button pushes that felt just right and beautiful high contrast LCDs, even if they were just black and white.
I may just be nuts, but I felt a real difference in those ancient devices.
moxxey: The number one problem is consumer demand for lower prices. I wouldn't like to be producing a 55" TV for under £1000, but that's what some consumers are demanding. Result is, manufacturing moves to China, cheaper components are sourced, profits are non-existent and you're on a continuous downward spiral trying to reduce prices further to get another sale. I was watching a programme the other day where they featured "quality" speakers. The speakers were no more than about £500. That's what they regarded as expensive. That's the problem these days - people want cool looking items, that don't necessarily perform, at rock bottom prices. What they don't realise is that they are killing their own economy (Sony TVs used to be manufactured in Wales!) and getting ever-reducing sub-standard build quality as something has to give and the quality can't be maintained if a consumer wants a £500 large screen TV or "top quality" pair of speakers at £200.