On the Grapevine
Wednesday, 12th October, 2011In order to add a sparkle of interest in the company Bang & Olufsen needs new products and more interesting and exciting innovations in order to survive. Some new products which may be of interest to the Bang & Olufsen buyer - and which may brush away business woes, to be introduced by the company in the upcoming months, include:
BeoLab 12-2 and BeoLab 12-3: are newly-developed wall speakers (both speakers will be of the same design); the larger of the duo will be around 1m tall with a gently curved polished metal surface. Some say that the speaker(s) is “well-designed, chic and modern” and different to what the company has previously been producing. The larger of the two speakers will have similar specifications as the BeoLab 8002; the smaller similar to the BeoLab 6002. Both speakers will incorporate ALT technology.
BeoVision 7-40 3D will be announced in November 2011, joining BeoVision 7-55 3D and BeoVision 4-85 3D already in production.
BeoVision 11 will be available in two sizes: 32″ and 40″. This new TV will be announced in the first quarter of 2012 (possibly February 2012). Rumours abound that this new TV will have the appearance of an Apple iMac computer with a perforated metal speaker cover (including a slide-in colour swag for personalisation). The choice of black or white cabinets will incorporate an original feel to its stand options.
BeoVision 12-65 will be announced early in 2012. Changes to the concept are still ongoing but is expected to include a newly-designed cylindrical active loudspeaker fitted beneath the screen. The price of the BeoVision 12-65 will be similar to the existing BeoVision 7-55 (with or without its stand is unclear at this time). The new TV is expected to replace BeoVisions 4-50 and 4-65.
BeoSound 8 Air will too arrive in 2012. The ‘Air’ suffix stands for AirPlay, Apple’s technique of music streaming throughout a house.
A portable ‘Air’ speaker will also be announced in late 2011. This all-new design will provide excellent sound and will incorporate a diagonal leather strap on its top in order to be easily carried around. It will also include a rechargeable power source.
A new iPad dock with built-in speakers. Devised to have an iPad slid within, this simple gadget will give a much-improved sound compared to the internal speakers of Apple’s iPad. The price for the new dock is expected to be around the price of the iPad itself. To possibly include a circular-shaped music selector, its concept will be similar to the BeoCom 6000.
There is also a new state-of-the-art top-line speaker still in development which will be anounced nearer to the speaker’s release date.
In order to survive Bang & Olufsen needs more new products (12.10.2011)
Reading the above it all looks an exciting future for Bang & Olufsen’s products, but today also sees the business reporting a wider-than-expected pretax loss due to the costs of reorganisation aimed at turning the company around with Bang & Olufsen posting a pretax loss of 32.6 million Danish crowns ($5.97 million) in the first quarter of its 2011-12 financial year (1 June 2011 - 31 August 2011). Product sales of 599 million Danish crowns were in line with forecasts, they say. The company kept full-year expectations for a 2011-12 profit before tax of around 100 million Danish crowns, based on a turnover exceeding 3 billions.
It said it expects about 30% of turnover from the audio and video business to derive from new products and major product updates during 2011-12 (Source)
