Education

I was on a bike trip the other day and a chap from Denmark was riding next to me. We got talking and I explained we install B&O back in the UK.

He looked surprised and said “they are all closing, people don’t upgrade their TV’s every year”! I went on to explain with great enthusiasm that they do more than TV etc and they have been here before with rumours of closing down but he seemed quite happy with the fact that they were in the past now.

Quite sad really from one of their own!

May I politely ask exactly where you see B&O right now and in the near future, if you disagree strongly with his thoughts?

People have been predicting the demise of B&O for over 10 years....every year its the end....every year B&O is still going. Seeing will be believing.

BenSA:

People have been predicting the demise of B&O for over 10 years....

I wouldn't say 'demise' - but would you say decline?  Shops have been closing in huge numbers worldwide, the brand isn't nearly as well known as it used to be, the company has sold off pretty much all of its major assets, put it's Headquarters up for sale (which nobody wants), and customers are defecting to other brands in their droves.

I don't think any of the above comments are negative - they are simply factual, yet some people seem aghast that people actually think B&O isn't exactly what it was during the boom times!

Personally, I think B&O is doing a great job of working with the little they have. They are showing some true resilience in some very hard times, but please don't kid ourselves that everything is wonderful in Struer.  B&O have had some very difficult times in the past, and overcome them - but the challenges were during different times, and any solutions will need to be tailored to these. I genuinely wish the employees well doing this.

All we can keep doing is buying the products and encouraging others to do so.

Lee

 

9 LEE:

May I politely ask exactly where you see B&O right now and in the near future, if you disagree strongly with his thoughts?

Hi Lee.

At present it is a very hard sell for us.

I feel that they are still too far away from what we would consider their main rival in the multi room (SONOS)

Every demo that we have given, B&O wins on sound and quality but when the client does a side by side comparison on the numbers they choose SONOS.

Plus, the products are still lacking (why no stereo pair for the M3 etc???)

Also factor in that they can easily add soundbar to existing TV etc.

BUT... the headphones are superb, they also do portable devices, this helps to try and integrate or get awareness of the brand.

I am hopeful for the new products and still have the passion for the brand because they have really produced stunning pieces of equipment over the years and not just produced “another box speaker”.

My personal opinion is to be comparable to the SONOS products on price and start getting known for multi room.

His thoughts? Well it is the same all over, some people don’t know they do TV, some just think expensive speakers, pretty much everyone is unaware they do portable devices etc.

Branches closing? I do not know the business model but I would really hope that B&O give support to the dealers who continue to sell the brand due to the investment that they put into the shop displays etc.

Our local dealer is superb and they are what you would expect from the brand, maybe others are not and people do not come back?

PaulGiles:

Branches closing? I do not know the business model....

Neither do many of the Dealers these days...

PaulGiles:

BUT... the headphones are superb, they also do portable devices, this helps to try and integrate or get awareness of the brand.

Not everyone agrees...

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.bang-olufsen.com

I do know there are obviously many thousands of buyers who are happy and don't leave reviews - but these reviews don't exactly help you make a purchasing decision in favour of B&O.

As far as people being unaware of exactly what B&O do sell, this is down to advertising and brand promotion. This costs a lot of money. B&O do not have a lot of spare money.  That's the problem.

I don't see any current Sonos offering ever becoming a design icon. I have never used a Sonos so I can't comment on their sound or ease of use but they are not attractive to me......maybe people don't really care about design anymore...they just want something at an average price that works. Actually very few people seem to care about what they play their music on.....they just buy some arb bluetooth speaker that makes a loud noise and they happy....when it breaks they throw it away and buy another one. Before the hifi system took pride in someones house, not anymore, its not considered something to spend a lot of money on...and B&O is a niche expensive brand. Therein maybe lies the problem. 

My shop just closed after 25 years, nearest is now approx 100km (witch is not too bad compared to US !).

My Beocom 6000, Beocom 5, Lightcontrol LC2 are dead after my Beosound 3.

I watch series on a laptop because my daughter is now in the living room with BV11 (and I am now used to the 17" screen), play a few CD's on BS9000/BL8000 but music is mostly played on Beolit 15 / Beoplay A1.

So after lurking on the Eclipse I now don't care anymore and I'm ready for a JBL Boombox the day the Beolit dies.

The only advertizing we see on Instagram is about headphones wich looks like the only B&O product sold.

Can't be optimistic with that situation.

9 LEE:

Neither do many of the Dealers these days...

Not everyone agrees...

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.bang-olufsen.com

I do know there are obviously many thousands of buyers who are happy and don't leave reviews - but these reviews don't exactly help you make a purchasing decision in favour of B&O.

As far as people being unaware of exactly what B&O do sell, this is down to advertising and brand promotion. This costs a lot of money. B&O do not have a lot of spare money. That's the problem.

Agree, review sites are open to anyone posting and can sometimes be one sided.

Yes, the E82.0 and App integration is just weird but played direct through deezer and they are great.

Agree, advertising costs money and there are some big players out there now.

Yes, or simply listening via smart phone speakers!

The SONOS kit is never going to compete with B&O on design and build quality hence the price gap.

But.... the M3 is very similar to the range and although the M5 is slightly more refined it is going up against the Play5 and that is a very powerful speaker that works very well and has good mounting options.

BS1&2 are unique and real pieces of furniture but you wouldn’t have these as surrounds.

The S8 was discontinued before we had a chance to look at it, was this any good? Seemed to be a good solution for third party integration etc?