HTSA’s Glikes Chides Manufacturers for Ignoring Custom

Amen!!!!!

Richard is exactly on point.  Unfortunately, many vendors have concluded that our channel is irrelevant. 

Of course as Richard pointed out, without our specialty channel WHO can properly demo and sell next technology as well as step-up goods?

Well written & reasonable. And an important message for all us to carry to CES and repeat. Thank you Richard for mellifluosly putting in print what many of us are thinking. Thank you Jason and CE Pro for publishing and sharing it with us.

hear hear We have been in business for many years and have witnessed the on again off again mentality of the manufacturers towards custom and specialty retailers. In fact they should take the bottom up approach to listen to what is needed on new products to allow their seamless integration. How many times have we seen a new product line come out with something missing from the last that actually develops more fustration with its’ “fit” into the scheme of a well designed system. There would be more products sold if manufactures let the custom and specialty retailers qualify their introduction. Period

Having been on the manufacturers side of this (and now dabbling in the installer side) the challenge is that one meeting, purchase agreement, etc. sets up the largest possible return on their investment and it costs a lot to develop a product. 
So back at ya; provide a single point of entry, or at least just a handful of manageable contacts to reach the installer channel.
Everything else this great article (I do enjoy the writing!) should very well hit home with any even entry level exec. in CE manufacturing. The letter is promoting what is described in product development as the ‘adoption curve’. The best description is Moore’s book ‘Blue Ocean Strategy’
Bingo - great letter but please answer the challenge of how to reasonable reach deep into the installer channels (via manufacturing and sales reps right?)

Great idea,

I have noticed an made some comments regarding the merging of other groups and the laments about the failure of 3D to catch on.

It seems to me (specially at CES) that now is the time for the separate voices of the specialty retail loby to unite and present the following concept to the technology supplier community…

Let the specialty retailers do the heavy lifting of introducing the new technologies to market.  These guys know how to explain and demonstrate same to the early adopters who will annoint the technology.  Specialty retailers help the suppliers refine the product and feature set.  Demand among the masses grows.  The Coke machines (big boxes) are then recruited to exploit the demand at low margins, 

At the same time the technology suppliers are delivering the next technology to the specialty retailer who creates a successful introduction and we repeat the cycle.  It is healthy for all and sustainable.

I trust that CES will witnesss the specialty retail loby joining together and discussing this concept with the technology suppliers.

I use the following definition of specialty retailer…  Retailer who is capable of creating demand (selling) for those services and products he chooses to stock and sell and then fills that demand profitably.

Ray Windsor
German Maestro

Just another example of what happens when these big players think they know it all.  The truth people lies in that there is no respect for the volume of sales this channel can bring. Get real CEDIA has done little to position this channel which in the long run would have positioned this channel years ago.  Who remembers HP’s launch in this channel. They all said they were committed to the long run. Less than 1 year bye bye.

Why can’t some strong technology company be happy with millions in sales from this channel without selling their product to everybody alive. Custom dealers need to take a stand and commit to the brands that are committed to us!

Not sure why anyone thinks the reach of CIs is at all significant to the overall market for consumer electronics.

I agree with CM.  You are fooling yourselves if you think group of enthusiastic business owners working independantly of each other is going to convince the general public that half baked technology is ready for prime time.  3D often ranges from gimmicky to nausea inducing and GoogleTV can be frustratingly limited.

The problems with 3D TV and Google TV aren’t rooted in Best Buy or the sales channel.  Its the technology.  Consumers aren’t as uninformed (or as hungry for new TV tech) as some CIs seem to think.  The average consumer doesn’t care about 3D, or surfing the internet on their TV for an additional $300.  The hardware is too expensive, and the software is too limited in both cases.  Oh, and they both launched during the Great Depression Strikes Back.

Besides, the industry has tried to convince customers that they need to buy new TVs every few years.  In the late 90’s it was HD.  Then it was DLP.  Then plasma.  Then LCD.  Then HDMI.  Then it was 120hz.  Then it was 240hz.  Then 1080P.  Then LED.  Now 3D!  That is a lot of displays for the average household to purchase to stay current over a 12 year period.

NOT TO WORRY we older grey beards have survivied it all before with the minicomputer platform, then the microcomputer platfrom and we will see it and survive with the TV platfom: the end of the corrupt and collusive control of a marketplace which will in due time have nowhere to go but “white box or die” just like what happened to the other platforms most of which did not survive as we know.

What happens is one of the smaller companies in the manufacturing oligopoloy can no longer survive the collusive status quo and has to go maverick or bust. That’s how the other platforms become free of the exclusive control of the oligopolists.

In TV it can and may very well be a company like Vizio for example.

Hang in there it’s just a matter of time…