3D And The Specialists

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Richard , It's great to see your doing well. Hope all is good with your kid(s). I miss those Bryn Mawr Stereo days. Hitm straight.

It's great to see your alive and kicking. I miss the Bryn Mawr Stereo Days and working with you on Wireless. Glad to see your doing well.

It's great to see your alive and kicking. I miss the Bryn Mawr Stereo Days and working with you on Wireless. Glad to see your doing well.

It's great to see your alive and kicking. I miss the Bryn Mawr Stereo Days and working with you on Wireless. Glad to see your doing well.

It's great to see your alive and kicking. I miss the Bryn Mawr Stereo Days and working with you on Wireless. Glad to see your doing well.

It's great to see your alive and kicking. I miss the Bryn Mawr Stereo Days and working with you on Wireless. Glad to see your doing well.

It's great to see your alive and kicking. I miss the Bryn Mawr Stereo Days and working with you on Wireless. Glad to see your doing well.

It's great to see your alive and kicking. I miss the Bryn Mawr Stereo Days and working with you on Wireless. Glad to see your doing well.

Too many specialists have decided to close their doors to the public and that's a crime. Of course vendors who filed to provide an intelligent channel distribution model bear much of the blame. The business models that focus almost exclusively on driving costs out of the supply chain inherently commoditize products and fail to create exciting user experiences. One only need look at the music business to see what happens when mass marketers take over a field that was originally dominated by specialists. Music became a big box business commodity, the specialists vanished, there was no one to kindle passion on a personal basis and all of this happened before iTunes became the number one seller of music. The digital communities that now exist may actually once again provide a platform to find people with shared interests in a one to one way that aligns with the specialist model. If vendors fail to develop real channel distribution strategies and instead believe that they can place the same products in different channels they are sadly mistaken. One of two things happens during any transaction - brand equity is enhanced or it is diminished. The rise of private labels should be a fair warning to suppliers about the plans of mass market retailers.

I cannot believe any independent dealer or buying group would support Panasonic at all! They have abandoned the very people that promote their product. They sent us to distribution a few years ago and now they are at it again! We must ask ourselves if we should even support them at all!

I cannot believe any independent dealer or buying group would support Panasonic at all! They have abandoned the very people that promote their product. They sent us to distribution a few years ago and now they are at it again! We must ask ourselves if we should even support them at all!

Panasonic has truly lost its vision. Its the independant dealers that can educate the public on the latest technologies such as the 3D and support the customer from close of sale to full integration. Panasonic has made this mistake in the past by cutting off most of the independants and sending them to distribution by seeking representation from the big box stores such as Circuit City (remember them??) and Best Buy. Panasonic has steadily fallen off the charts since that move and now they are committing the same mistake again. Richard, it's thanks to organizations such as HTSA and others that we don't have other vendors following Panasonic's type of mentality out there. The specialty dealers luckily have the support of some great names such as Sony, Sharp, Lg and Samsung. Panasonic can take its 80/20 rule to its demise!!

Perhaps my opinion on this matter is clouded by the fact that Richard has had a hand in shaping my personal passion and interested in Audio/Video for the last 20 years. The very manufacturers that the specialists have created value and interest for, have largely dismissed or made it impossible to do business with them. It's a shame they forget. New technologies, performance, features, and brands have been built by specialists that know them cold and could demonstrate them properly. The national

When you live to depend only on the Big Box business, you die by the Big Box business.

While I make it a solid pratice never to buy a first generation product from someone who can't legally drink beer... the real issue seems to be the lack of relationship between the manufacturers and the specialists. The partnership approach from industry giants such as McIntosh and or Runco has all but vanished. Should a specialist be the gate-keeper to new technology... no! However, what is mind blowing is the truth that the specialist market seems to be the only place a confused (and often angry) consumer can get the face time with someone who can clearly communicate the features and benefits of changing technology.
Change is hard... change for the sake of change rarely moves anyone forward.

Instead of complaining about your dwindling fortunes, perhaps the "specialists" should identify and articulate their added value. HTSA and other groups should be more actively focused on identifying those things that make their services a necessity, rather than expecting manufacturers to support them in lieu of volume sales. Manufacturers need velocity, not specialists.

Unfortunately, Richard's argument is not based in reality. He says "...All this buzz then trickles down eventually...". So the "specialists" will take their time building buzz while the manufacturer bleeds red ink, then, at some indeterminate point in the future, the "specialists", having wrung every cent from early adopters, will be ok with BB getting the product. The need for sell-thru is significantly greater than the need for coddling an industry that will not (or more worrying, cannot) adapt to a changing landscape.

Best Buy's added value is clear. For the manufacturer: Huge volume; For the consumer: Easy access. What is the "specialist's" added value? If it's just that you'll have shutter glasses with charged batteries...well, needless to say, that's not enough.

Richard, of course you are correct. In fact, this is one of the key concerns on whether 3D TV will in fact drive sales, increase ASPs or simply be a feature no one can charge or benefit from. One of the core issues overall is too much inventory and not enough margin and cash flow. The situation for specialists on rebates is one bad result. Yet on the other hand, specialists are needed by vendors to introduce new technologies. Even if vendors think today that 3D needs little more than demonstration this alone will not likely result in increased margin. The system is threatened for everyone as Best Buy does understand they cannot pioneer every new idea. It will take a reset of expectations and methods and I at least am working on some new ideas and would love to discuss with you.

Not to mention the specialists sell the more profitable, higher end products for the manufacturers because we can sell the advantages much better.

Maybe it's because the specialists are now custom installers and not the place to go to see the latest technologies. Who wants to make an appt to see the newest toys when there are several Best Buys that you can visit at your oonvenience?

Let's face it - The specialists are no longer in the plans of the large video suppliers. Companies like Nuvision and Runco are still there, but the vast percentage of the buying public are not in that price league. This only further drives the fact that specialists must adopt new products and business strategies that do not include flat panel. Control, especially as it applies to energy management, is a great opportunity. Partnering with higher performance, controlled distribution vendors is also essential to survival and growth. Even two channel music in many markets has far greater upside for the specialists than flat panel. The video gravy train is gone, long gone. We must all adapt.

Yes, this is a sad sign of brand mis-alignment. I visited a local BB one week after the "launch" and found the two pair of demo glasses inoperable (drained batteries)and no one to help. Big money spent on a bad first impression. Wonder how many consumer saw this?