I am in no way justifying the state of affairs. But it is worth pointing out that for any non mass market product, managing your customer experience overseas, especially in another continent, is hugely challenging.
There are a number of long standing UK hifi brands that simply don’t offer their product in more than a couple European countries and nothing in the US or Asia. I think some of them are even larger than Naim and have decided it is just too hard.
If you are any foreign hifi company, to say things are stacked against you is a massive understatement.
You want to compete in a foreign market but first you have to ship your very heavy product there, and then on top of that a distributor needs a massive cut or it just isn’t profitable. So before you hit a single service and repair related problem, your product already costs twice as much as the domestic gear it should be compared against so now is being compared against domestic gear a level up that it probably isn’t better than.
And then you need to manage lines of communication for support, servicing and repair on top of that.
Even if you do everything right. the consumer needs a really compelling reason to not buy domestic where they can get more for less and it’s easier to support.
There is obviously a lot of sense it what you say. But it is also the case that Naim were successful in many overseas markets. Here in New Zealand they were the preferred and lead brand in the distributor’s network of dealers. Also very well established in Australia and a solid network in the US. This covered sales, servicing and support. But all of that has been lost now, all a result of Naim’s management of those networks.
Of course it is not impossible to succeed at all. Many have. There is also a long list of foreign brands doing well in the US and in Australia.
I merely point out that the recipe for success is fragile. It’s not a simple thing that takes an idiot to screw up. It’s a hard thing to set up right and only takes a small misstep to wreck.
Honestly, from my experience, having zero presence in country is far better than a badly managed presence. Naim ruined their position in Japan almost 2 decades back and were dropped. And honestly, you might find it better if that happened in markets like Australia or the US. There are several huge advantages to the consumer:
The moratorium on circumventing local dealers no longer applies because there aren’t any. You can buy from the UK tax free with no distributor markup. Shipping will be expensive but less than UK VAT. You save $thousands.
Finding out where to service gear is simple. There is only the UK mothership in this situation. While that’s not ideal distance and cost-wise it certainly is simple. But you saved a fortune on the initial purchase anyway.
And Naim don’t have to bother dealing with a distributor sitting between the customer and them either. On top of which, you may have lost dealer representation and fallen back on word of mouth, but now the word is that your brand is excellent value for money as long as you buy direct from the UK.
Honestly, if Naim existed in Japan, I wouldn’t have ever bought Naim. I wouldn’t be able to afford that and support would have been a nightmare. My UK dealer supports me direct and Naim supports him. Simples.
That’s certainly better than having to deal with distributors, but if simplicity is the goal the option of selling direct to the customer is the answer. Many high end audio companies are doing it, and the expectations are straightforward: Try at home, return for a refund if you are not happy, ship it back to the manufacturer if it needs service.
While many people enjoy the dealer experience, loving the sights, sounds, and the smooth talk from that “trusty” sales rep, this approach, whose value is mostly emotional, is becoming a relic of the past.
I totally agree. They are hanging onto a model that isn’t really fit for purpose since about two decades ago.
And rather than undercut the dealers that are remaining, brands like KEF selling online are arranging trials requested online and assigning them and the commission to the nearest dealer.
I’m not suggesting they do that but as you say, there are other ways if they care to be creative.
As has been stated before, Focal-Naim IS the distributor in the U.S., and they are alienating the U.S. dealer network and customer base with horrible retail and service support. If (well, when) Naim fails in the U.S. they only have themselves to blame for it.
Josquin i agree. It is so unfortunate…the 200/300 series really is just fantastic and it is such a shame it is getting hard to see and hear these terrific products with a variety of speakers. I am absolutely rocking out with my new 332/npx300/nvc-tt!
Yes i see that. Listen i’ve been watching this declining situation with the dealer and customer support in the US for awhile now…and i thought long and hard about whether i should go forward or not with my new preamp. But here’s the thing…i go to these shows, i occasionally visit other dealers with different brands, and i also listen to other systems, and at the end of the day Naim connects with me and others - while in some cases very good indeed - just don’t to the same level. And this new 300 series connects even more than my olive kit which i rated slightly above the OC. So i went foward with it. And i absolutely love it, and hope FN get their act together.
It’s really nice that you have been able to sort yourself out with a new 300 series. TBH, I have no interest in it myself. I don’t ever go to shows, so I don’t have the same frame of reference as you.
I will say that Boulder seems to be what Naim was a long time ago. When I wanted to audition the 1108 phono-stage they sent my dealer one, and let me keep it for a month! They even configured some loading cards to my spec and sent them as a followup during my home audition.
The other part is that the Boulder 1108 completely smokes the Superline/Supercap DR. If I can come up with the budget I would like to audition the Boulder 1110/11xx pre/amp as a possible replacement.
My local dealer has dropped Naim, but they are a longtime, enthusiastic Boulder dealer.
Well between your incredible new turntable and this new top line phono stage it is probably no exaggeration to say you have one of the top analog front ends in the entire country. Enjoy!
I do understand that. But they seem to have implemented a standard fossil model anyway. It’s still very much Naim > FNA > Distributor markup > Dealers > Dealer markup > Customers.
Not very imaginative and clearly no one is seeing a benefit from Naim taking on the distributor role.
My dealer says I have the top analog front end of all their customers.
I have a friend with the Basis A.J. Conti Transcendence turntable with two of the Basis arms for it, each with a Lyra Atlas Lambda (one stereo, one mono). That leaves my rig in the dust. LOL
Yes quite right. I have to wonder what their private equity owners think of this. Do they even understand what is happening to them? To their investment? A company with great products, a superb new line in the 200/300…and a business front end that is so apparently disfunctional that they are throwing it all away.
I repeat from my earlier post - this looks existential to me for the company.
I don’t think that’s true. They enjoy far more control and consistency geographically close to the mothership. And private equity is known to both ruin companies but also push them to thrive. Although the former is far more common, I’d reserve judgement here. Bad decision making existed in the world long before private equity started the long march of enshittification across the globe. I wouldn’t attribute the current problems they have outside of Europe with anything specific. It’s too opaque, I feel, to be pointing fingers. And I know in the case of some problem regions, private equity and the management in France had zero to do with it. They managed those fails all on their own.
I think it is important to both separate their customer pipeline issues with their physical products and not paint both with the same brush. And similarly to recognise that the issues they have outside of Europe are not uniform and have had various causes.
I suspect if their US market vanished tomorrow, it would financially hurt but they could always retrench and survive.
I have separated their business issues from their fine products … very clearly I think. Their distribution network was just fine before. Dealers and customers liked it and had comparatively few problems. So I think it’s quite fair to wonder if the PE ownership is connected to these issues.
I have a good amount of experience working with PE partners. I do understand the complex issues involved.
Well, for us here in the states it is the same paint brush. Naim R&D is irrelevant if the rest doesn’t work. My dealer has spent months trying to get a cable for a Naim 300 series customer, who can’t use what they bought. I have a feeling the dealer will end up refunding the customer and taking a loss getting stuck with a product they don’t want.
I completely agree but that was not the point I was making. On existential threats, I merely illustrate that if the core product is not at issue, then the customer pipeline problems in overseas regions aren’t likely to be an existential threat.
Yes decline in yet another market will financially hurt, and the damage to reputation in that region will be long felt, but providing they do have that fundamental product core competency, retrenchment (as opposed to growth) is always a valid option.
If they had a pipeline issue and the products were all shoddy (your personal experience with HiLine is well noted BTW) then survival of a company comes into question. But they are not in that situation. Hence, what I said before, if the US market vanished tomorrow, they would survive - it’s not existential.