Are Naim due to put their prices up on 1st April?

Hi,
Heard it from a dealer that there will be price increases of around 4 or 5%.

Km

Paul,

are you still calling the new stuff "classic"? I thought that was just a joke?

Wasn't there something about the new stuff being called "reference" instead?

cheers, Martin

E-mail:- MartinPayne at Dial.Pipex.com

Does "newly introduced classic models" include Hicaps ?

Allan

Grrrr,

Series 5 will be more expensive and components which costs thousands of pounds will keep the price
I think that is much easier for someone who want to buy NAP500 to give GBP100 more, than for many of us which are in series 5 area to give 25-30 GBP more

Ozren

Does the new range include the SL2 speakers or are these going to increase in line with the announced 2.5% increase?


Regards

NB

Thanks for that Paul

Series 5 runs away

Maybe I'm just indecisive but this will be the 2nd price increase since I once considered saving the pennies for 112/150 combo. Maybe 2nd hand is the best route then. Anywhere recommended for the 2nd hand route?

BTW, how come Linn hold their prices steady over such long periods and don't apply the inflation index?

Now contradict myself with my auto-signature...!

!!! There's always money somewhere for the next upgrade... !!!

Chaps

Price increases are a mixed bag.

The RPI is approx 2.5% upwards.

On average I am paying my suppliers 8% less than a year ago and they had to drop quite at bit the year before that.

Energy costs are the major problem, oil is way up but is soon due to come down (Iraq has little impact on long term prices). Gas and electricity are lower now that ever before but prices are now edging up. These will impact across the board.

Interest rates also have an impact and the likelyhood is that they will still continue to edge down over the remainder of the year. If you can refix your mortgage later in the year, do so, because you could strike a good deal.

The reality of price increases, is that it is all down to what the market can take.

Regards

Mick

Horoscopes and detail financial analysis all in a single thread! Just throw in some celebrity gossip and we'll be able to sell our televisions thus more than covering the 2.5% price rise.


Willy.

Paul,

The thing I don't understand is why on April 1st? Is it a Bank Holiday or somebody important's Birthday or something?!

Cheers
Mat

Matt

April 1st is the most popular start of a companies financial year and for small businesses who operate on a RRP, this date is usually used for annual price adjustments.

Regards

Mick

Simon
"there is absolutley no math invovled in a generic raise across"

This year as we have many new products only a portion of our range will increase in price.
We make price increases based on our needs to finance the future which includes paying our people a rate which is applicable to the job they do.
Taxation,currency variables (massive right now on some items) and a global slow down force manufacturing costs up not down.
Of course some materials can be bought more keenly, and we do, but many of our parts are made specially for us in low volume. Many parts we make life time buys all this comes at a cost.
We are NOT crying its just what we do, WE LOVE IT!! alot of people appreciate that and pay accordingly.

Inflation has made Naim products over the years a pretty fine investment unlike the stock exchange!and look at all the fun along the way .

It's also woth remembering that a pretty significant portion of the cost associated with a new piece of electronics goes to the dealers and you can be pretty sure that dealers costs will have had to increase with leasing costs and labour costs increasing. I would expect that Naim should see there costs of manufacture going down over time in real terms, if not they will struggle to remain competitive, even labour costs should go down with improvements in productivity, if they're not then again Naim could run into trouble.

However, with the inevitable economies of scale that Naim must have gained in say the last 10 yrs there full unit cost should have decreased in rreal terms, then again, they keep 'improving' products so like for like comparison is not necessarily fair.

When it comes down to it, if Naim are competitive in the market then the price is right, when someone comes along with products that sound identical to Naim at a lower price point then things get interesting.

cheers

Matthew

Let's see--some basic economics. Labor is the chief cost of manufacturing. For a specialist high quality manufacturer, a skilled, experienced labor force is a chief asset. If Naim are to give regular raises to their staff, which I for one favor, then the prices will keep rising. There is no economy of scale in hand-assembled items.

Of course Naim could outsource to a development zone in the Philippines or somesuch, but quality would drop.

In addition, as Paul points out, they need to make enough to keep going. You know, so when the switch on your 110 breaks in ten years they can still fit a new one, and so forth. That requires buying large stocks and storing them, both of which have a high cost. But it's worth it for the customer.

Do you realize how many amps that cost as much as a 250 in 1985 either a) the company is out of business or can't service it so the used value is nearly nothing or b)the item broke and can't be fixed, or fixed economically?

--Eric

quote:

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Originally posted by Ozren Herold:Series 5 will be more expensive and components which costs thousands of pounds will keep the price
I think that is much easier for someone who want to buy NAP500 to give GBP100 more, than for many of us which are in series 5 area to give 25-30 GBP more

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Too damn right Ozren, however, that's the British way of doing things - the poor get poorer and the rich get richer. Guess it'll be even longer til I get round to stumping up for a Naim now then, but it could be worse...

You could be a Rega user and find that your Planet CDP at 498 you had your eye on is noe 548 - now THAT'S an unfair price hike (and I like Rega - but that's still unnecessarily large - kind of like everyone's council tax increases this year...)

When the music's over turn out the lights

I value the hand made in Britain (and I'm a Yank) and will pay for it as they service their past models. This is unheard of in the Japanese gear. Once Sony changes the model number you can only get a service center a couple of years before they say they can't service it either. So that means I have to weigh my position more before I put my money up for a new Naim upgrade. Qualified hand labor is expensive and feel proud that you are helping someone else and your own economy stay alive.