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Re: Some thoughts on Linn's woes and other matters... (longish)

Posted by unclestu52 (D) on April 28, 2007 at 11:55:51

In Reply to: Some thoughts on Linn's woes and other matters... (longish) posted by DevillEars on April 28, 2007 at 06:41:32:

Actually Linn has decided to basically abandon the so called audiophile market. Just look at what they are manufacturing: CD receivers, very slick styling.

Linn has decided to emulate the B&O/Bose market strategy: offering very beautiful styling and an an all in one kind of shopping mentality. I personally spoke to a US Linn rep a couple of years ago and he informed me, as I was interested in the LP-12 TT, that TT sales accounted for less than 1% of their overall sales. Their product line is organized in certain price groups these days

The sad truth is that the high end market is not large at all. A large high end manufacturer may employ 20 people (CJ falls in this category). For a while, Madrigal/Mark Levinson claimed to have the largest factories in the high end world, and at their peak I believe they had something like 55 employees. If you want your company to grow larger, the high end market is not the place you really want to be.

Your slice of the pie is increasingly shrinking with new players jumping in, and it is difficult to sell a new product to the same customer year after year, because the products are generally better built and therefore simply last longer.

In addition, look at who has the money to purchase the high priced items. Many are not really music lovers. Sure, they enjoy music, but in my experience, the most fanatical of music listeners were not among the upper class financially: sure they were very middle class, but they had financial worries about mortgages, college education for the kids and the like. I had one guy who, in a decision between car insurance and a really good sale at Tower, elected to sell off his car. If you really listen, your software collection will be worth way more than your hardware. Few fall in that category.

Any way:
it's all good food for thought.

Stu

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