What is with B&W these days? soundbars, ipod doc..

Since the late 1980s, B&W Loudspeakers has been owned by Equity International, who also owns Classe and Rotel . . . Equity as a company is a very, very different beast from the original Bowers & Wilkins company, with very different market strategy, and very different dealer relationships.

I've always found it interesting that "Equity International" isn't mentioned on virtually any of the B&W marketing materials and brand identity . . . they seem to imply the continuing image of B&W being an independent UK loudspeaker company. This is in stark contrast to Harman International, which is all too eager to broadcast its name in association with the brands they acquire.

What about Linn? back in the day they had a turntable, and 2 pairs of speakers. Now they sell virtually everything hi-fi.
Progessive thinking by Ivor MBE.

Ok good points about the over seas market. I like to see companies do well I was/am just afraid they would loose there "higher end " focus over time.

If Wadia is creating options for Ipod why don't you think B&W would. It is MUCH more mainstream. The days of spinning discs are coming to an end as memory becomes smaller/less expensive. After all in the quest for audio nirvana taking a spinning disc out of the equation is a huge step to reduce jitter. MHO.

If Wadia is creating options for Ipod why don't you think B&W would. It is MUCH more mainstream. The days of spinning discs are coming to an end as memory becomes smaller/less expensive. After all in the quest for audio nirvana taking a spinning disc out of the equation is a huge step to reduce jitter. MHO.

If you are a small company you have the luxury of making only those products you want to sell. If you are a large company you have to also make the products people want to buy. As long as this does not compromise the quality of your audiophile products there is nothing wrong with doing this.

B&W marketing has been their primary forte from day one. This looks like a clever move to me.

James63 is only looking at the situation from a US market perspective.

When I travel to the UK (where B&W headquarters are) I see B&W in the most unusual places, compared to the US. For example, I noticed that there are B&W ipod docks (Zeppelin) sold at Waitrose Super Store (the equivalent of a US Super Target). B&W is priced lower in the UK than over here in the US.

I don't think that B&W's main market is the high-end audiophile. In the UK one can see B&W speakers in many public places used for background music, etc. I have also seen computer speakers made by B&W in the UK.

With respect to James63 being saddened by B&W's marketing, perhaps he needs to get out more and see what is going on in the rest of the world - the US is not the only game for B&W. No, the average Joe in the US does not own B&W, but a huge number of Joe's in the UK do. Cheer up!

We're living in an IPOD World. I think many growing up on IPOD's and soon to have nice incomes will look at your above example(s) as all they want or really need.

You can bet B&W has done their market research.

My friends with B&Ws have kids.They listen to i-pods.It is a way to bridge the generation gap and expose them to the pleasures of owning an audio system.