I hope they address profitability in TV’s and have answers as to why they have partnered up with Amazon.com to completely erode any profitability that was left in their TV’s. Now dealers are the bank and have to wait a month or so to get trailing credits just to be able to sell a set at close to Amazon.com’s pricing. It’s not just Sony. It seems that all the video companies are losing money and racing to see which of them is next to go out of business or more importantly to me which dealer is next to bite the dust.

CE profit belongs to big box stores and online retailers. The online retailers are actually putting big box stores out of business.

Since none of us can beat Amazon’s $4 next day prime shipping we might as well give up. It costs you more than $4 to pick it up at the distributor.

The low end CI market is going.. going.. gone. The mid & high end market is squeezing the wannabes out of the game. CI’s have to focus on labor and think of product profit as a surprise on the rare occasion that it actually occurs.

Let the client & the discounters deal with service and support. I sure as heck dont want to lose money every time a TV has issues. An Amazon purchased Sony TV = $ for every service call.

My 3 year old has a longer attention span than Sony’s corporate strategy planners.

They will once again forget about the CI channel as soon as Walmart, Costco or another shiny object comes along to tempt them.

Let me get this straight. Sony is co-branding a product with BB and now they say they are committed to the CI channel.  Give me a break.

Sony has gone this route before and it’s always the same story.
I have no time for ANY manufacture’s games.

I can’t wait to see all of the new Sony products that will only be available to their own Sony Style stores, Amazon, & big box stores for months before independent authorized dealers receive them…

SONY stands for “Ship Out Next Year.”

Regarding Sony profit margins… WOOPS! I almost forgot that I’m not allowed to use any profanity on this site.

Good commnts. All right on target from us little CI guys. I am seriously considering having clients purchase all Sony and lower price TV’s elsewhere and we sell the other equipment, materials and installation/tech time. I have ALOT of dollars tied up in Sony and LG inventory where we make little, if any, profit considering the time involved to handle a warranty problem. It makes more sense to put this money into speakers, control products and the like. Much better ROI and much less hassle. Maybe we should all begin doing this. I bet we see our bottom line drastically increase. As for Sony et al I don’t want to be hanging onto a sinking ship. We know where this is headed and I think it’s time to abandon/jump ship. I for one am mad as hell and not going to take it anymore….

Dave,

I think you make a valid point of having customers buy (Sony) TVs elsewhere and selling the installation and other materials.  As a customer it is always hard when my dealer wants to sell me a TV that could be bought from Best Buy (not random internet dealer who is BS) for $1000 less.  I completely understand and respect that my dealer is selling me “more than just a TV”, but it is hard to look at the numbers and say that the TV will be so much better if I buy it straight from him.

Let me buy the TV on my own, and sell me the service of installing it and incorporating it into my home.  Be honest of the cost and if it needs to be troubleshooted and I don’t want to deal with the MFR, then I pay you for your time to deal with it.  Tell me if I buy it on my own, than I need to get it from an authorized dealer or you can’t touch it b/c it doesn’t have a warrantee. 

I don’t want my dealer to lose money on providing me a TV.  I recognize they don’t have the supply chain of Amazon or Best Buy and can’t sell it at the same price.  It doesn’t matter to BB if there are a few defective ones that need to be sent back but it does to the dealers so it needs to be priced higher.  That doesn’t mean though that I should have to pay a ton more.  Let me buy it elsewhere and take over from that point on. 

I think this is the direction that many CE Pros will have to start to consider.  The internet has changed the game.  You can either fight it or ride it.

@Stan & Dave:

Great comments, and I agree with both of you.

I love most Sony products, (I personally own 4 of their TV’s & Blu Ray players in my home), but even as an authorized dealer, I still purchased my personal components from other dealers to get a better price.

EXAMPLE: When I wanted to purchase 2 Sony BDP-S360 Blu Ray players for myself, my dealer cost was $226.00. I wound up purchasing them from B&H;photo, (http://www.bhphotovideo.com), at a cost of $219.00 each with free shipping.

However, just because the profit margin is low to non-existent, I will still sell & promote the product to my clients, (mainly video, their audio products suck), because of the quality.

Matter of fact, I will tell my clients right off the bat where they can purchase what they’re looking for at a cheaper price. They can either purchase it themselves, or I will do it for them to save them the time.

It is imperative that honesty to a client is the best policy. Even though as a dealer you’ll be losing the sale/profits of a few components, it definitely shows the client your integrity and will make the rest of the job go a lot smoother.

Let’s also not forget that Sony is not the only one out there with little to no profit margins… Panasonic, (as another example), is also another guilty party.

The bottom line is that smaller CE dealers do not push or sell extended warranties because our clients are smarter than that. Thus, profit margins will cease to exist to us little guys on a few select items, but we will have a client for life due to our initial honesty.

In the, “Good ‘ol days,” we used to be able to sell a Technics turntable below cost and make up the profit on the phono cartridge. Those days are gone… Now we must all roll with the punches and remember that our existence depends on referrals and repeat business. We are no longer in an economy that forgives & supports dealers who are shortsighted.

The market has forced the pricing so low that its in our (CI’s) best interest to let the client assume the risk for the product. Our industry is heading the same direction as construction and IT. ALL labor must be billed for. Hardware is sold directly with no margin and labor must be billed accordingly. So all those hours you gave away for free in the past where you consulted with clients or sketched out system design…

Bill for them.

I read a post at AVS where someone stated that CI’s should sell things at cost or slightly above and bill for their time like other professionals. I agree. $75-175 per hour for every phone call, meeting, email etc.

I sure wish Amazon sold Phast. We would have spent those years smiling instead of crying .

Someone else said it best here their attention to custom is not very long. I doubt their dedication to the custom dealer even makes it throught the CEDIA show.