The survival of the fittest.


I am constantly surprised at the vast number of speaker manufacturers. But many fall by the wayside. Plenty of reasons why they fail, but more interested in why certain makers continue to succeed.

Sound
Marketing
Fit and Finish
Price
Product availability
New technology
Manufacture association
Profit margin
Luck

I realize most of these in combination contribute but if you had to rank them my money is on the marketing and fit/finish, in that order with sound holding up the rear. Thoughts?
jpwarren58
I stand corrected on the advertising. I don't read Stereophile or TAS, unless it happens they have something I'm interested in. Hardly ever happens. 

One of my first shocking experiences when shopping for good stereo back in 1990 was the number of what were to me totally no-name brands. This was back when I was reading Stereophile cover to cover, and everything else I could find as well. Looking back, its obvious I was brainwashed by marketing to disregard or at least not seriously consider stuff that sounded good simply because it was new and unknown.  
Live and learn. 

How long has Tekton been around?
Verdict is out as to long term success. 
Okay, I get it. This is one of those threads where the OP pretends to be interested in one thing (ie, "why certain makers continue to succeed") but its a bait and switch. Because the minute you answer all his vague list of possibilities he switches to "verdict is out as to long term success." 

News flash for you bud: the verdict as to long term success is always out. However long something has been around there's always more time so you can always say the verdict is still out.  

As for me? Over, and out.

It's not bait and switch and your circular argument could discount any discussion as to merit. Don't adhere dynamat to your brain thinking this is an attack on Tekton. Bose is more successful than Tekton. Why? Tekton sounds better as most would agree. It would be great if Tekton turned into Bose, or not? Another question but germane. Your experience in regard to the magazines is most illuminating. 
"Bose is more successful than Tekton. Why?"

Bose is a real thought-through company with, over time, wide portfolio. They identified, if not created, markets that will be booming in the future and were well-positioned for them. Think noise-cancelling, "lifestyle systems", earphones, car audio, Bluetooth. Add a very strong marketing department and you have a successful company. What they make in Bluetooth speakers, they can afford to invest in truck seat development, I guess.

Tekton seems to be just a one line company (speakers), obviously much smaller and probably trying to inhabit a niche, rather than grow significantly. For all we have read, their admirable success has caught up with them and wait time is long.
Bose are successful because they are tuned to satisfy the vast majority of the public, mostly non audiophiles. Tekton is not very good as they use too many tweeters. Every speaker is tuned differently hence there are many companies out there because different people need different frequency response curves depending on their level of hearing loss. 



Bose = listening contour bef accuracy
Bose = 1 box simplicity consumers love
Bose = marketing, marketing, marketing
Bose = legal action against poor reviews
Bose = all for brand building and loyalty

In many ways Bose were Apple before Apple.

Expensive for what you got, but what you got wasn't necessarily bad.

Tekton make speakers, they are not Apple. They might not want to be.

Every company needs some luck with timing.

Bose got lucky. So did Apple. Many others did not.

The key words seem to be an impression of prestige, simplicity, and familiarity. All of which go towards establishing long term brand loyalty.

Once you have that, you've made it and it's yours to lose.

Isn't it Bowers & Wilkins, Sony, Harmon Kardon, JBL, Quad, Wilson, ATC etc?

For any of these established companies to fail now would require major strategic errors or some major shifts in the market place.

I agree with the OP in that actual sound quality is far from the main selling point.
Impressions and reputations count for much, much more.

You'd think that the iphone 12 would flop due to its outdated design, lack of innovation and poor battery life, but far from it. It's been a huge seller so far.

As I said, once you've established yourself, it's yours to lose. Even a minor misstep like paying way, way over the odds for Beats is only a hiccup.

Even Tim Crook knows that.