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
Beovision 7-55 MK1 red, Beolab 10 red. Beolab 50, all black. Beolab 17 broken ice. Beolab transmitter. Apple tv4 and apple express 2.
same with the H95...
Beolit 12 - Beolab 4 pc (dead now) - Beoplay H5 - Beolab 9 - BeoRemote One BT - Beoplay M3
yep - as I posted on the similar thread a couple of weeks ago, after the very recent price increase, everything I bought 4-5 years ago is up 50% broadly! Some more, some a touch less - but broadly it equates to 10% per year every year.
Naturally given the maths, the more recent 10% is a bigger GBP / USD / EUR jump than previous 10% rises.
The question we need to ask ourselves is this : would you / can you afford to replace every B&O item you have, at current prices?
Esax:Price up on the beolab 50. 50% up in 4 years says it all. I am out!!!
I am out!!!
@Esax and crossbytje
The price of the BL50 was already too much for me before - and some H95’s are not needed….I already have several (B&O) headphones.
I guess there will be enough costumers/buyers none the less.
MM
There is a tv - and there is a BV
Sandyb: The question we need to ask ourselves is this : would you / can you afford to replace every B&O item you have, at current prices?
I thought the same thing the other day. Two years ago I picked up an Edge for only £1450 and an Infantry Green BeoSound 2 for £1250. Now the Edge is TWICE as expensive as the one I purchased. Is it worth £3000? Probably not, no.
The scary one for me is my Smoaked Oak Stage. That's now....£2000 which is roughly what I was expecting to pay for a Stage NG with external speaker support which my dealer told me about in January 2021
These prices will be adjusted back when we get a more normal world again.
B&O cannot produce the amount of speakers they sell, why on earth should they keep the price down and lose money?
And yes they would lose money, as everything in price have gone bonkers. Wages/ Recruitment/ Electricity/ Metal/ Chips/ Shipment/Advertisement you name it.
What delusion world do you live in if you think that you should not pay for these increases???
In my own business I have increased all the prices, I would rather stop my business than beginning operating with loss.
Beovision Harmony 77" 2nd Gen, Beolab 5, Beolab 17, Beosound 1, Beoplay M3, Beoplay Portal, Beoplay Earset, Beoliving Intelligence
No one is deluded - we pretty much all understand he reasons for recent price increases.
But that doesn't mean it's not challenging for luxury brands, and for some consumers. And in B&O's case its not just the recent price rise - its that it comes on the back of frequent annual 10% price rises. Some of the luxury things I own have gone up perhaps 25-30% over the last 4-5 years, but no more. The comparable for B&O is more like 50-60%......
As for prices going back down when things normalise? Good luck with that - the very best we can hope for is a freeze on price rises for a couple of years.
Emil Jensen: These prices will be adjusted back when we get a more normal world again. B&O cannot produce the amount of speakers they sell, why on earth should they keep the price down and lose money? And yes they would lose money, as everything in price have gone bonkers. Wages/ Recruitment/ Electricity/ Metal/ Chips/ Shipment/Advertisement you name it. What delusion world do you live in if you think that you should not pay for these increases??? In my own business I have increased all the prices, I would rather stop my business than beginning operating with loss.
But B&O are barely making money yet, so something had to be changed.
I understand that if you lower the price, you sell more units, and you fixed cost get less per unit.
But right now B&O cannot make enough products so that logic cannot sadly be applied yet.
And yes I agree with you that these price will be for a long time, and don’t be surprised if they are raised again.
It is fair to dismiss B&O for the prices it is an expensive product, but I cannot see what else they should do?
Critic is good to give, but I don’t respect it if it is not constructive criticism
Indeed, although on the one hand you said the high prices will go back when the world becomes more normal, and now you say that hey will be here for a long time with maybe more rises to come?!?!
Anyway,. yes the recent cost price increases mean they have no option - I agree there, as I think do most observers.
That doesn't really address the main issue though - after not just this increase, but years of successive 10% annual rises, there will be more and more for who their mid range and flagship products are just out of reach. And some of their smaller products (A9s, Balances etc) are getting much harder to justify (at 2000-3000 each) for secondary room speakers.
As I've mentioned before, there is no point posting that the shares have gone up on a specific day, and then being silent when there shares sequently perform weakly, as has been the case for the last few months. And as I've mentioned many times before, the upturn in B&O sales, while welcome, is not that impressive in the circumstances of a massive surge in consumer (at home) spending. Which is why the markets remain uninterested in the stock as an investment.
And now with these continual price rises, further improvements in B&O sales is going to be a much bigger challenge.
Emil Jensen: But B&O are barely making money yet, so something had to be changed. I understand that if you lower the price, you sell more units, and you fixed cost get less per unit. But right now B&O cannot make enough products so that logic cannot sadly be applied yet. And yes I agree with you that these price will be for a long time, and don’t be surprised if they are raised again. It is fair to dismiss B&O for the prices it is an expensive product, but I cannot see what else they should do? Critic is good to give, but I don’t respect it if it is not constructive criticism
Already the price was "out of bounce" for some time
Sadly it will be the end of this brand in the near future
Not only because of price but horrible after sales.
Software is never "finished"
After sales dep is rapidly "dismanteld" because of cost stucture
Any 5 dollar brand does this better.
Even saw headphones already on ALI express.
Ik makes sense since it,s chinese junk anyway.
Sorry for this "gloomy" answer.
It would be great if B&O joined the conversation and said they know and understand and are working on it :).
Unfortunately this is true. We're almost certainly in the final decades of Bang & Olufsen's ongoing demise.
Good Day everyone.
I wrote about this in a couple of threads earlier this month. Some depressing reading but I believe it is all coming true.
This price rise is not B&O being greedy, gouging poor customers and only being a rich mans brand. This is due to the massive inflation (in currency supply) that all our respective governments have been participating in over the last 50 years and in particular the last two years.
Essentially "currency energy" - if you like, has moved or leaked out of the financial institutions and has finally hit Main Street and Make Things Street and is now seeking a new balance. (Think Tsunami - a net negative suck-in and then a destructive positive wave. We have had depressed prices so long, as our currencies lose value but business absorbs this in efficiency gains until now. However, this cannot be absorbed post lockdown, with an increase in debt and currency printing working against business. The Tsunami is coming back at us - fast).
B&O are not alone. Believe me, it will finally work through every supplier and manufacturer of everything sooner or later.
My hot water supplier for instance has increase my water costs 148% in December.
Footnote: Read-up on the differences of Currency and Money. Our governments have SOLEY done this to us. It is not a function of Suppliers increasing their prices to gouge-us. There is too much competition for that. When did governments every have competition? Hummmm?
It's not only B&O.Just got a letter that my gass & electricity bill is going from 75€/month (which is véry cheap - well isolated appartement) to 450€/month.
Seriously hope that my BV14 keeps going for some time.
No doubt, inflation shooting up has been widespread.
Difference between cheap things going up and expensive things going up (B&O for example) though.
Energy is a necessity, and governments will eventually intervene to help affordability.
No one is going to intervene if B&O sales fall away somewhat. The company may need a further capital injection in a few years time.
Diluting existing shareholder even further.
kuyttendaele: It's not only B&O.Just got a letter that my gass & electricity bill is going from 75€/month (which is véry cheap - well isolated appartement) to 450€/month. Seriously hope that my BV14 keeps going for some time.
The interesting thing about being a B&O consumer is second hand market.
The CEO of Auralic for instance recently cited that the $2 chips they put in their G2 products are selling on the open market for over $40 each and that Auralic could make more money throttling back their product supply and just sell component inventory.
If this were to happen - like Ford and VW, new products become harder or longer to source and the used market gets a boost.
However, for the B&O enthusiast, there could be possibilities where nearly new gear could start to shift at reasonable prices because new stuff is either too expensive or is simply not manufactured?
Depends on what market you are in if any.