01-Apr-2020, 13:14
(01-Apr-2020, 12:58)Norty Wrote: I agree with PeppaPig on this. This group has an extremely high of integrity allowing to read all posts and ideas at face value. I struggle with the purported pricing which is a major contributing factor for the letter.
The other issue, if you accept the pricing are correct or near correct is the assumption that Devialet themselves are solely responsible for the lack of pricing discipline. Part of my background is international consumer goods. Our biggest headache was dealers selling to other dealers at discounts. It happens for a bunch of reasons, to get quantity discounts, to pay off lines of credit, taking advantage of currency markets, etc. Trying to plug that cross boarder selling was like to plug a leak in a dam with your figures, you can only do so much. Then you get dealers who have low overhead just trying to make a couple of bucks per unit sold. Perhaps this is one of the reason the Devialet and many other manufactures are changing the channels of distribution. We just don't know.
To be clear I am not saying that friffithstrife does not truly believe what he is saying, and since he has already moved on it really doesn't matter. But it doesn't fit with what I have seen in the marketplace and I will admit that it is limited.
Devialet is very protective of their pricing regime. I appreciate it. The value of the Expert line, especially the more "modest" end, is probably going to remain buoyant in the foreseeable future. In the US, there are some dealers who have felt they were burned in the past that will throw criticism left and right at Devialet because of things that happened during the D-Premier era, probably because they realized that it turns a six-figure customer into a "maybe" five-figure customer over a lifetime, as it's a "terminal" product...you're not flipping boxes every three years like with other blue-chip brands. Incremental improvements can be picked up from the lowest bidder if the relationship is not managed well. The Devialet Expert client is educated, wants simplicity, can be loyal (I would buy everything from my original dealer, who really earned the sale after 6-8 hours of demo but is half a world away), but is not going to generate the volume that other buyers will, and will probably require more hours. I might be wrong.
I can tell you that someone selling a 220 Pro new at those price points cited must be doing some type of laundering that warrants the charity there...because it truly is charity, even at volume. Unless stolen or somehow ridiculously marked down, there is no way Devialet is properly invoicing an authorized dealer, or any dealer, for less than 5000 EUR. I bought my 140 cash, and when the curtain was lifted a year later, I was shocked to see what a deal I got. They really did me a favor. This is coming from someone who is not very happy with the company still but has come to terms with things. It's going to be a rough year. They won't fold, though. The audio market is still strong right now, but it is April. Devialet is a halo brand and there are some growing pains...last time I checked, half of the employees worldwide had fewer than two years tenure at the company. Fresh but scared. You can be fresh but highly influenced by the status quo. Many are just trying to keep dream positions.
Sorry for the ramble, see my post re: Stereophile. I hope it isn't duplicating another post.
