Drinking my first coffee of the day, I went to see if the Italian TNT audio site had any interesting news. Their editorials are worth reading (use English version or translate)
Drifting through the 5 part Munich HiFi report, which starts with a €3,000,000 system on show, I was amazed just how many brands there are in this sector, with important price tags, and how the bottom end of the market is moving away from Europe and the USA.
Then I almost spewed out my Lavazza, when I read the editorial. Cocktail Audio worldwide – Novafidelity in the UK, is no more. My Streamer, bought a year ago, is now unsupported and will be OK if I just play local files, but the streaming function will gradually become obsoleted to death.
Here is an except of the article
The picture that emerges is certainly not the rosiest. In the meantime, news of the definitive closures of Cocktail Audio and Auralic has arrived. The latter had recently won a few awards as product of the year. In this regard, we will have the opportunity to make another bitter reflection on the topic of Best Buy/Recommended . Now, the first company has not provided explanations, while the second suggests that the new US tariffs have definitively cut off the legs of exports. For the former, my suspicion is that the repositioning on the market was wrong. Born as a company of smart, well-sounding and inexpensive music servers (the X10 and X12, which we had positively reviewed) it has tried to conquer more elite audiences, with increasingly expensive music servers. This is always a very risky operation because budget-conscious buyers no longer recognize the brand’s mission and those willing to spend more are unlikely to put a brand that has become famous thanks to a music server for a few hundred euros into their home. It is as if, pass me the comparison, a company that makes food products for discounters suddenly, maintaining the same brand, pretended to attack the gourmet market. Bankruptcy would be practically assured. Sometimes market repositioning has worked, but the audiophile customer is by nature distrustful and very much anchored to status.
Stormy days in our beloved Audio world.