25-Jun-2015, 19:58
(25-Jun-2015, 00:33)Manoet Wrote: Devialet just picked up another $25M investment from an unnamed source in the past day or two but suspicion is high it 'may' be a US benefactor and possibly due to the following info. Part of this windfall is supposedly to be used to preclude choosing even a single existing US dealer or distributor and instead opening 12 US Devialet "company-owned" locations initially in high-end retail locations. My source is iron clad but he can't vouch as strongly for his source tho he feels strongly its substantive information. Intuitively it smacks of Devialet wanting to be a luxury brand and their dogmatic opposition to dealer-discounting which I personally see as self-destructive. Is anyone REALLY so naive to believe Dr's, lawyers, investment bankers, trust-fund babies and the well-heeled/well-to-do et al, really pay full-pop retail for Ferrari's, Lambo's and Rolex's!?! Devialet aint Ferarri or Rolex and the real world isn't Devialet-Dubai!
If memory serves, and specifically related to audio, B&O tried this exact business model over 2 decades ago and it essentially killed them... PERIOD! And hell, they even had speakers & other drop-dead gorgeous, bullet-proof product that worked flawlessly when it was released to market... every time! Today they're a faint shadow of their former self. Their sole remaining audio division has now sold their ICE amp division to try to remain afloat. And this from a corporation that held over 50 audio-related patents dating back to May of 1989. Some corporation's arrogance simply knows no boundaries. See any similarities?
Interesting.. Kevin Harris the national sales manager (I think that's his title) was with B&O prior to Devialet..And I remember back in the day when B&O was a pretty big player and then they went to these B&O boutique stores which really hurt them in the US..
