Devialet at Oxford Audio 13th July

[Hifi_swlon]

Thanks to Ian and Confused for all the great feedback on the event.

That said, I have to say I didn't find what's been reported was that 'open' to be honest. It seemed more like a bit of insight into the new tech, and a fair bit of fluff.

For me, at this stage, the only thing that would have satisfied me is a "hands up - we f****d up - we got the message, we're on it, and everyone having experienced AIR issues will be looked after". Whether it's a new streaming board FOC, a commitment to communicating the plans and progress with AIR, active beta program with proper designated two way channels for all the feedback, and last but not least an apology for what happened and massively underestimating how much they were pissing off their (some very loyal) customers.

Maybe even a bit of back story. Give us proper details on the issues they were having and what they tried, what went wrong. Share the pain. That's being open.

But I suppose a dealer event is never going to be the place for that kind of transparency. It is after all, a chance to promote and 'sell'.

Anyway, on that note I've pledged to myself that I'm not going to make another comment on AIR in 2016, other than to help protect innocent newbies from making a mistake if I see someone looking like they might. That probably comes as relief to some I'm sure.

[Axel]

Ian said that Mathieu from Devialet told him "The upgrade window may be limited to September to December."
If I have understood this correctly, could they really upgrade a worst case scenario of 6000 units in four months? I seriously doubt it. Why would they put themselves under this kind of pressure? 

[NickB]

Anyway, on that note I've pledged to myself that I'm not going to make another comment on AIR in 2016, other than to help protect innocent newbies from making a mistake if I see someone looking like they might. That probably comes as relief to some I'm sure.
[/quote]

Well I will do the opposite and tell them that for me AIR on both Windows and Mac work perfectly.

[marcor]

Ian said that Mathieu from Devialet told him "The upgrade window may be limited to September to December."
If I have understood this correctly, could they really upgrade a worst case scenario of 6000 units in four months? I seriously doubt it. Why would they put themselves under this kind of pressure? 

Even more, how they can be taken seriously after they pulled the same stunt on the D-premier that is still upgradable now, even to the new pro line? Also in NZ the last update was quite late, well after the european one, if I remember correctly at least 6 months later. Nobody ever offered to let me ship the d-premiere to Paris, in fact the update was eventually done in Singapore.
Let's see how this pan out, I am sitting on the fence on this one

[IanG-UK]

Ian said that Mathieu from Devialet told him "The upgrade window may be limited to September to December."
If I have understood this correctly, could they really upgrade a worst case scenario of 6000 units in four months? I seriously doubt it. Why would they put themselves under this kind of pressure? 

I think you are right. If they have sold 6,000 units in 5 years, maybe their run rate is now 2,000 units per year. 

If they are anticipating upgrading even a third of existing units, that is 2,000 units, in three months, along with maybe 500 brand new units in the same period, that is a run rate of 10,000 units per year. I can't see that being deliverable in terms of both logistics and cashflow. 

When the D-Premier was upgraded to the 240, I bet there were no more than 2,400 units in existence, maybe less, so perhaps an immediate queue of 800 units. Even with that volume the closure of the then upgrade window was never threatened.

I guess they just want some enthusiasm for the upgrade ...

[Antoine]

It's to pressure people to upgrade and not wait too long. They did the same with the D-Premier -> D240 upgrades, the window they set back then still hasn't closed while they communicated July 15 2014. See also: http://devialetchat.com/showthread.php?t...1#pid44451

I'm sure lots of people will fall (again) for that old trick even when they probably don't even know what they're buying, the streamer board won't see the light of day until 2017 after all.

[RebelMan]

Plans change personally and professionally Antoine. It's not necessarily misleading but perhaps poor planning.

[thumb5]

Sure, but when plans change, professionals explain what's changed and why it's changed. That doesn't seem to have happened in this case: rather, something Devialet said would happen just silently didn't happen. Or arguably vice versa. That is just casual disregard for customers, in my opinion, and can't be described as "professional" (I know that's not quite what you meant, but my point stands anyway).

[RebelMan]

Sure, but when plans change, professionals explain what's changed and why it's changed.  That doesn't seem to have happened in this case: rather, something Devialet said would happen just silently didn't happen.  Or arguably vice versa.  That is just casual disregard for customers, in my opinion, and can't be described as "professional" (I know that's not quite what you meant, but my point stands anyway).

Not necessarily.  Devialet values their customers otherwise they wouldn't be in business.  They just have to learn how to adapt to the sudden growth of their business and improve on the various processes, which takes time.  It still impresses me how quick to market they managed to bring the DP and simultaneously turn the industry on its head.

[Dr Tone]

Sure, but when plans change, professionals explain what's changed and why it's changed.  That doesn't seem to have happened in this case: rather, something Devialet said would happen just silently didn't happen.  Or arguably vice versa.  That is just casual disregard for customers, in my opinion, and can't be described as "professional" (I know that's not quite what you meant, but my point stands anyway).

Not necessarily.  Devialet values their customers otherwise they wouldn't be in business.  They just have to learn how to adapt to the sudden growth of their business and improve on the various processes, which takes time.  It still impresses me how quick to market they managed to bring the DP and simultaneously turn the industry on its head.

I'm sorry, but you have definitely been drinking too much of the special Devialet Kool-Aid!