Bose buys McIntosh


End of an era?

telemarcer

There is little doubt that Bose will use their stellar product management team to find ways to reduce the prices of McIntosh gear. 

Bose currently uses China, Malaysia, and Mexico to manufacture parts and using parts made abroad to utilize in McIntosh products is a no-brainer. The previous investment firm owners squeezed all the money they could out of Binghamton, but did not have the want or the expertise to reduce the price by outsourcing. Bose does.

McIntosh has been lagging as a leader in high end gear for years. Storied? Yes. Superior name associated with a hi-end sound signature? Yes. Competitive? Not so much.

To give one a quick synopsis; McIntosh revenue was $42 million last year. Bose revenue was $3 billion. Yamaha audio was nearly a billion. Harmon $2.3 billion. Heck, even Klipsch bests McIntosh with reference to revenue. Market share for McIntosh products has significantly decreased, while they are being beaten handily by competitors who are far more globally savvy. 

To be blunt, there is a lot that a company like Bose can do to increase revenue for a brand name as recognizable as McIntosh. The name will be compromised- the products will suffer- but more people will purchase them.

Capitalism is what makes America great. While outsourcing has been controversial in nature, there is no doubt that manufacturing in America is over - and there is no going back. 

Bose has outstanding engineering talent driven by outstanding product developers and a rigidly scientific approach to discovering what customers would buy.

I may not be their target audience, at all, but there are things they do very well.

I’m sure Bose will bring their background in market research and customer testing to McIntosh. This probably means the company will go in a different direction than it has so far, but don’t blame the engineers. Blame the test audience.

Of course, they could also feel the Mc brand was so affordable they can slap the label on imported plastic boxes and charge 10x more until they drive the brand into the ground.  Time will tell.