Our nation is struggling to understand the economic slowdown and significantly what solutions need to be adopted. The “Great Recession” is still ever present and is no longer questionable. Unfortunately, it is not only a reality of life today in the United States but also in the rest of the world. The impact has been daunting and disruptive. Not only are performance specialty manufacturers and their dealers, as well as mainstream consumer electronics companies, facing a lingering recessive economic climate, we at Widescreen Review are facing the most challenging market we have ever experienced.
 

The impact is threatening our very existence as a publication. Like other small companies, and large companies as well, in this economic climate, we have had to take further steps to reduce our operational costs in order to weather the broken economy.
 

Unless you live in an information void, it’s hard to escape the endless stream of negative news. This is impacting not only our own small, independent publishing company, but that of the significantly larger publishing houses as well: sliding ad pages and thus, less revenue; skyrocketing distribution costs; slashed marketing budgets; company consolidations; and downsized staffs, both internal and outside writers. Digital publishing is not escaping the gloom either. Notably, several large publishing enterprises are still for sale or have recently been acquired and absorbed into still larger conglomerates. Others have unfortunately folded and no longer have a presence. All are seeking ways to reduce operational costs. All are reducing page count and/or publishing frequency.
 

The economic climate has never been so daunting and challenging. As a result, back in October 2008, in order to sustain the magazine, we reduced our page count to 68 pages and implemented other cost-reduction actions to be able to continue publishing. At the same time, we put more effort into our Webzine content.
 

Yet advertising support, which is a necessity to publishing, continues to dwindle throughout the publishing world.
 

While I have argued in past editorials that this is an unprecedented

time for performance manufacturers to strengthen their brand recognition and product performance attributes, the old saying that “you get what you expect” is overshadowing their efforts and too many are having to concede the current economic climate as a threat to their survival.
 

They, or we in publishing, should not be blamed because what can you do when there is significantly less revenue to operate your business? What is the blame is out-sourcing manufacturing and lax trade laws that create an unfair trade balance, as well as the hoarding of productive capital asset ownership that restricts ordinary Americans who are non- or under-capitalized from acquiring a viable income-producing capital estate paid for out of future earnings of the investments (see the subsection “The Absent Conversation”).
 

Consumer desires for a better electronic lifestyle are still strong, and the drive for product success is still there. Manufacturers want to create consumer desire and demand for their products, and retailers want consumers to purchase these products in their particular stores.
 

Unfortunately, the performance end of the consumer electronics market has lost countless specialists stores that had the capability for excellent demonstration and personalized sales support. Ever since the advent of home audio, stereo, and home theatre, this has been the proven method for educating consumers on performance products. Undeniably, consumers still need to be educated and be made excited about better performance offerings as the smart buying choice. But increasingly in-home tech support and in-store demos, which users indicate are often lacking in their consumer sales experiences, are harder to come by.
 

As previously argued, the Internet is not the solution to this need. The Internet cannot deliver personalized face-to-face interaction and education. The Internet cannot replace the reallife demonstration and personal communication that a good store/salesperson experience can deliver. Selling on the Internet, other than commodity products not requiring demonstration, is a mistake increasingly being made by manufacturers of high-performance products, and ultimately will bring doom and gloom to their existence, destroying their good store/salesperson family, which they worked so hard to enlist, engage, educate, and support.
 

Nor are the “regional” consumer shows that showcase manufacturers and dealers in demonstration mode in cramped hotel rooms. While they offer the opportunity for consumers to experience products, the norm for these shows is limited to stereo with, at best, a smattering of home theatre system experiences. Still, “regional” shows are better than no in-person experience at all.
 

While I have argued that in an economic downturn the worst thing manufacturers and retailers can do is to cut back on advertising and marketing, I recognize that during these times, where money may be tight, companies more than ever need to instill in potential customers an extraordinary reason to buy and a sense of immediacy.
 

While there is no doubt that these times are extremely trying, the performance-oriented customer, if not most people still employed, still has discretionary funds, but are far more careful about how they spend these funds. Manufacturers and their retailers need to play to consumers’ pent-up demand.
 

During this time period, manufacturers need to have penetrated the consumer mind-set to influence his or her desire to want only the best performance products so that when the economy does strengthen, they will have targeted the products they want.
 

Thus, now is the time to put flagship products and technologies out in front of those consumers and to support the dealers who can effectively present and demonstrate performance products, and the publication who writes about such products.
 

Manufacturers who solely rely on so-called “custom installers/integrators” (the name describing the new “demo-room-less dealer”) are risking deflating their brand reputation, which they have earned through face-to-face product education and comparative demonstration.
 

While everyone wants the economy to burst out once again, and in the not-too-distant future, in both the poorest and best of times, consumer product education will remain key to successful product introductions and sell through.
 

As noted previously, Widescreen Review helps manufacturers and their dealers “stay focused” and reach trade dealers and consumers who put quality, performance, and service before price alone. We have helped manufacturers and their dealers reach their performance-targeted audience—our readership (both trade and end users)—and at the same time educate those consumers who are considering lower-end, more affordable performance products that reflect the pedigree of pricier flagship products. At the same time, manufacturers are reaching the specialty and “custom installer/integrator” dealer channels through Widescreen Review, which is widely read by the owner/retailers who believe in staying abreast of technologies and new product performance attributes—in essence, those bent on staying educated.
 

So, with the support of manufacturers, we will do our best to continue providing such support during these recessive times, as well as provide our readers with content that is valuable in both education and performance.

 

 

As noted previously, the meltdown of the economy is significantly impacting the specialty consumer electronics industry. Because of the industry shakeout, manufacturers, specialty dealers, distributors, and buying groups serving the high-performance product category are re-evaluating their businesses and sell-through channel strategies. If there was ever a time to re-embrace the specialty high-performance retailer with the consultative sales and product demonstration floor, now is the time.
 

Traditionally, the specialty dealer has provided face-to-face education, product selection, demonstration, and service. Manufacturers traditionally supported this channel and relied on these dealers to reinforce product brand awareness and performance through education and demonstration.
 

During the past two decades, manufacturers began to pay more attention to new product delivery channels to grow sell-through numbers and gross sales volume––even though less profitable, based on a per unit sale. This has resulted in manufacturers supporting discount warehouse retailers, online Internet stores, and individual or small company “custom installer/integrators,” serviced by large distributers, who stock product for these new sales channels.
 

As a result of this shift in manufacturer support, the specialty retailer is now unable to compete with “sales” operations that have no comparative costly brick-and-mortar operations, nor can they avoid, as do many Internet companies, collecting the sales tax. Nor can they compete with warehouse retailers who operate on extremely low profit margins, low labor cost expenditures, and provide no product education or consultative sales support. Warehouse discount and Internet retailers can operate on far less profit than specialty retailers, who thus cannot compete on price.
 

Without profitability, there is no prosperity.
 

For the specialty performance retailer to survive, manufacturers need to help them improve their operations, to cut costs and draw potential customer traffic.
 

Manufacturers will have to clearly define themselves in the marketplace––manufacturing commodity products or differentiated performance products. If they opt for brand recognition as a performance-product manufacturer, then they need to support specialty retailers, and they need their distributors to provide specialty retailers with performance products with minimal inventory investment, while extending the credit to do so.
 

Without this support, specialty retailers will not survive in an otherwise retail world that is in a race-to-bottom pricing and selling commodity products at the lowest price.
 

Extending support to specialty dealers is more critical than ever, especially now, since the credit system is so dysfunctional, and there’s limited money available for customers to buy product or to finance product purchases. And if there are fewer and fewer “customers with money,” then there will be fewer sales attributed to “pricey” performance products.
 

There is also the reality that consumers, given the current economic environment, will be hesitant to spend without prudent consideration. It is simply an unrealistic expectation that consumers with limited and dwindling income will purchase differentiated performance product without researching the product and engaging in consultative face-to-face interaction with a specialty retailer. Some manufacturers with specialized products argue that the end user is not a factor, that the custom installer/integrator’s recommendation is all that is necessary for their product to be purchased. While this seems logical for basically “hidden” components, including switching, matrixing, and distribution products, it does not seem well suited to performance source, amplification, and reproduction products. I have been told that the owner/decision makers of custom integration companies are secondary to product purchases because it is the field people who are the real decision makers. This enlightenment came about as a result of discussions with manufacturers who were informed that Widescreen Review is requested and subscribed to by the owner/members of CEDIA, PRO Group, HES, Nationwide, and HTSA and provided at no charge as a support service, though not free of charge to the people working under the owner/member. These manufacturers are not concerned with recognition on the part of end users who purchase their products through a custom installer/integrator. Nor do these manufacturers seek independent product reviews to confirm performance and value.
 

Consumer electronics is a never-ending parade of new product introductions on an annual or semi-annual basis, whether based on new technologies or improvements to old technologies. This reflects the constant evolving nature of technological prowess. Those manufacturers who cannot invest in technological innovation and invention are left behind.
 

Manufacturers and specialty dealers must constantly reach out to potential customers to educate them to these new introductions, otherwise, there will be no awareness and fostering of the state of the art. And without awareness there can be no demand for products consumers don’t even know about.
 

Performance-product manufacturers need to introduce new products, through press releases, to the performance-enthusiast media and through trade shows that are attended by specialty dealers and the press. These are the two fundamental steps to introduction of new products. Yet not all manufacturers actually pursue these steps and rely on potential customers discovering their Web sites without media reference. Furthermore, few manufacturers reach out to the media to explore story development and to review their products in trusted print and digital edition publications. Instead, they rely on the media to contact them, and, even then, often stories are never developed nor are their products provided for review. This is a complete failure on the part of marketing heads and their departments employed by manufacturer owners.
 

After all is said and done to project product awareness, the consultative sales experience is crucial. This is the step in which the potential customer interacts with the dealer to further their education of the product and in-person evaluation. The demo gets the deal.
 

While reviews in trusted print and digital edition publications followed with Internet discussion forums are pluses, surprisingly few manufacturers optimize these opportunities. Still, all the research, reading, and discussion will never substitute for the consultative sales and demonstration experience in which the consumer can personally evaluate a product’s features and performance attributes.
 

Demonstration is key to, for example, showing plasma versus LCD, LCD 240 Hz versus 120 Hz, Ultra HD 2160p versus HD 1080p, screen gain versus no screen gain, 3D versus 2D, 11.1-channel versus 7.1-channel versus 5.1-channel surround, full-range loudspeaker performance versus limited-range loudspeaker performance, large widescreen projection versus flat panel viewing, Blu-ray Disc versus streaming, lossless versus lossy compressed audio, or the D-BOX® Motion experience versus non-motion, etc.
 

That’s where the retail experience has the advantage, where a visceral experience can be demonstrated. And that’s what performance manufacturers and specialty retailers have to communicate to potential customers.
 

The specialty retail channel offers the best opportunity for manufacturers to present their performance products and to educate current and upcoming generations to appreciate quality.
 

But for this retail channel approach to be successful, manufacturers must stop making available their performance products for sale online and to large distributors servicing the so-called “custom installer/integrator” and other individuals, small companies, and Internet “stores” without the requirement or minimum requirement to stock and display, and demonstrate product.
 

Without this policy change, the steady demise of the specialty retailer will continue. When there are too few specialty retailers left, performance-product manufacturers will find they have no other channel to replace this traditional storefront-personalized-operation that stocked, displayed, and demonstrated a variety of performance products, while providing education to consumers through face-to-face interaction and A/B product and system comparisons.
 

While most of the blame for the deterioration of the specialty retailer and the differentiated performance-product category should be attributed to manufacturers, specialty retailers have played a big part over the years in the quick commoditization or reduction of profit levels, in an effort to stay competitive in the race to bottom-pricing.
 

Retailers need to regain their competitive advantage as educators that explain and demonstrate to the consumer that there’s an experience to be had with performance products that commodity products cannot deliver. Otherwise, if manufacturers decide to position their performance products as priced-shopped commodities, then profitability will significantly decline, and there will be no economic incentive to pay for R&D to develop new technologies related to product development, and less opportunity to recoup their investment through sales to quality-appreciative consumers. The bottom line is performance manufacturers cannot function if their products are priced at the entry or commodity level, because there would be significantly less money generated to pay for the technology. And at some decisive point, the manufacturer will find that it is no longer profitable to further innovate and manufacture upscale performance product.
 

This is already occurring as, unfortunately, manufacturers have become focused on how many boxes they can move and how much market share they can grab, no matter how they have to get there. For far too long, short-term gains have been prized over long-term regard for the health and prosperity of specialty-performance-product retailers with a consultative sales floor and performance product demonstration capability.
 

As manufacturers race to “bottom pricing,” the result has been internal consolidation with substantially less employees and substantially increased workloads and responsibility expected of those not laid off. Of course, this further exasperates the national problem of the decline of “customers with money” to purchase the products and services our economy is capable of providing.
 

Another problem increasingly facing specialty-performance-product manufacturers is the availability of product on the Internet. New generations are developing habits where they do not shop at brick-and-mortar stores. Instead they research and purchase products online. And often when they do shop at a specialty retailer, it is for the purpose of getting educated about and experiencing the product in-person, with no intention to purchase until they have searched for the best price on the Internet. Numerous apps are available to smartphone and tablet owners  to verify instantly (even by scanning the product’s bar code) where else the product can be purchased at less cost. The specialty retailer simply cannot win in this scenario, in which the lowest price determines the sale, or in which price, not brand recognition, performance, and service, is the driving force. As argued above, this trend will eventually cause the collapse of the brick-and-mortar retail experience and the demise of traditional brands who cannot compete on pricing, or who cannot sustain profitability on entry-level or low-cost products.
 

Increasingly large electronics retailers are investing in direct OEM product sourced from China and elsewhere in Asia to sell as their own brand. Additionally, large electronics retailers such as Best Buy and Magnolia are struggling to survive as the race-to-bottom pricing squeezes the last pennies of profitability.
 

This scenario is a vicious circle driven by the race to bottom pricing and by consumers strapped, with less and less money to spend on non-essential products for survival. It is quite amazing that millions of people are now engaged with their smartphones and tablets as their personal “home theatre” delivery source brought to them by a “headphone” set. They have no idea what visceral experience can be had with a real home theatre system, or if they do, they do not have the income to support such an experience.
 

Who is to blame here?
 

Well, squarely, it is the manufacturers who have made the decision to sell their products to this retail channel fixated on selling at the lowest price and lowest-profit margins. This has developed into a domino effect, with those manufacturers, failing to comply, struggling to sustain their business.
 

Should performance-product manufacturers subscribe to bare margin online sales and discount warehouse sales, then the specialty retailer will die, and there will be no place for consumers to experience through demonstration differentiated performance attributes, and to become aware of real visceral performance differences.
 

Manufacturers need to ask themselves what they will do when the specialty retail channel is gone, or for that matter the custom installer/integrator channel. Who will they partner with, and which channel can actually sell the products that they make money on as a manufacturer?
 

As performance manufacturers move to embrace online and discount warehouse retailers, they degrade their brand, which for most, has been established over many, many years of proven performance. Remember that specialty retailers have always helped such manufacturers by playing up the earned mystique associated with their products in their showrooms. Educated and experienced salespeople were able to explain features and demonstrate performance, aided by trustworthy product reviews and media editorials that provided education related to the technologies and optimum setup scenarios. And as the products gained further recognition in the marketplace, consumers had to go to the specialist retailer to experience them for themselves and purchase them. There were no alternative “wholesale” or “cost plus” online or warehouse store outlets where these products could be purchased. But once manufacturers dilute the market and spread their product out to non-specialty retailers, then the mystique is degraded to “meaningless” status. This trend is now in play.
 

That’s what is happening now to manufacturers who make performance products and are opting to sell their products online or to discount warehouse retailers.
 

A further decline in specialty retail will cause specialty products to disappear, and there will be less differentiated product. I blame the manufacturers for this, as they control whom they sell their products to. Magnolia’s, The Good Guys’, Tweeter’s, and Harvey Electronics’ lack of success was caused from the inability to compete with “discounters” who offer the lowest price but do not have to invest in operations such as these specialty retailers had to in order to properly provide consumer education and demonstration, as well as follow up service and warranty. Manufacturers allowed this crash to happen.
 

Often the CEOs who are hired by the publicly owned and stock-traded manufacturers, and those of equity “buy out” firms, are mandated to reduce costs and to fatten profitability, no matter what the cost. As they fail, one after another, they often still receive “golden parachute” sums upon their departure followed by the next CEO who has convinced the owners that they have the “secret formula” to turn losses to gains. The constant decline of potential “customers with money” translates to less R&D, product innovation, and marketing and advertising, which results in less performance brand recognition. It also leads manufacturers to create “the next big thing” to obsolete the previous technology. This is the case of Ultra HD 2160p, even though to fully appreciate Ultra HD 2160p requires a screen width greater than 12-feet wide. Already, to fully appreciate HD 1080p requires a 5.5-foot or wider screen. How many potential consumers are there with the interior real estate in their homes to support such a wide screen and the associated volume, to comfortably view the picture, and experience an immersive soundtrack?
 

In these stressful economic times, it very important for manufacturers to declare whom they’re going to support and where they’re going to place their effort, and then for retailers to do the same. There needs to be a new partnership between performance-product manufacturers and specialty retailers to re-establish the consultative sales floor to sell step-up differentiated performance product with education and demonstration and follow-up service and warranty.

 

 

The Internet has brought us reading and visual content that is utterly staggering and mind-boggling. There are thousands of blogger sites that claim “magazine” status and many end-user discussion or “mini-blogger” forums. Some even unethically sell the equipment that they discuss or review. And, of course, every manufacturer has a Web site. Some manufacturers, as well, offer their products directly via their online Web site or through telesale transactions or dealer-direct via the manufacturer. Information is available as never before. Whether it is reliable and truthful and to be trusted is another question.
 

An increasing aspect of the Internet is the blogger sphere in which press releases issued by manufacturers are rehashed and published as “news.” In reality, it is PR for the manufacturers at no cost. In recent years, the blogger contingent has invaded the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in unprecedented numbers, focused essentially on “news” reporting of the latest product introductions obtained from distributed press releases during the event.
 

While the Internet has widened the access to information, and consumers can see and read about more audio and video products than ever before, it is ironic that there are today actually few opportunities to “experience” all that is available. The marketplace for brick-and-mortar “experience” showcases is not what it used to be, and you won’t find “the best that it can be” at Best Buy or Magnolia, nor are you able to experience all the truly great performance gear that is available that you may have read about in Widescreen Review and other publications, including on the Internet, even if you have an independent specialty dealer in your area.
 

Today’s market is geared to what the “box store chains” perceive will appeal to the majority of consumers without having to educate consumers on performance nuances. You may be able to find choice performance products at independent specialty stores, but then increasingly, such retailers with capable demonstration and education wherewithal are sadly folding. There just are not enough left, with, in many markets, only one still in business if any at all. So, increasingly, there are fewer and fewer opportunities to “experience” true high-performance products. This in turn is resulting in a “dumbing down” in performance quality to the commodity level, and worse, is depleting the very necessary one-on-one personal education and demonstration that is necessary to insure the appreciation of “the best that it can be” by future generations.
 

Why? I have written extensively about this phenomenon and have repeated myself even within this editorial. I blame the meltdown on manufacturers bent on the immediacy of “quick” revenues and growing sales, without regard for the consequences. Ownership and management tends to be solely focused on “numbers” couched in short-term time frames and factory output. Sadly out-sourced manufacturing to China and Asia is the trend as well. And, as noted previously, this has caused a domino effect.
 

The Internet cannot effectively bolster high-performance product manufacturers, especially long term, because in the final analysis, manufacturers will need dealers to educate and demonstrate to potential customers their performance products, to be fully understood, appreciated, and wanted. Only brick-and-mortar stores can provide the proper personal experience setting to educate about the existence of select products and excite the desires of potential customers to want to buy better performance gear in the pursuit of “the best that it can be.” The virtual world of the Internet is not structured to provide the personal interaction that “live” demonstrations can deliver. This is why it is so crucial that small business independent specialty dealers with education and demonstration capabilities are supported by manufacturers of performance products. It is why I have always stressed that Widescreen Review is “the essential home theatre resource” that should be read by enthusiast consumers and dealers to appreciate the technologies, the proper setup, the performance attributes of the equipment, and the content that results in “the best that it can be” home theatre experience.
 

Today, as previously noted, too much emphasis is put on advertising to the dealer network through trade publications, with the expectation that the dealer will dictate the product sale. Manufactures overlook or ignore the fact that it is the end user consumer that is their real customer. There is the notion shared by some manufacturers that the “custom installer” makes the purchase decisions for the consumer. The opinion is that the consumer doesn’t care about how his or her money is spent on a system. I can certainly agree that there are some consumers who are rich enough not to be concerned with making such purchasing decisions and who instruct their “custom installer/integrator” to purchase what the installer/integrator believes is the “best that money can buy,” or the best performance value for the money, or the most prestigious. But I seriously doubt that consumers making less than $250,000 a year are inclined to regulate their purchase decisions to a “custom installer/integrator,” without their personal understanding as to what that performance-value equation means (and deny themselves the thrill of evaluation). Yet, certain manufacturers of performance products have decided to market and promote (advertise) only to the “custom installer/integrator” via trade journals focused on news and business advice to that segment that are provided free to anyone claiming to be a “custom installer/integrator.” They are largely abandoning marketing and promoting to the end user, as has been the wisdom for centuries, for products meant to be purchased by consumers. This movement among those manufacturers largely marketing to “custom installers/ integrators” has impacted all performance-content magazines, both print and digital editions, read by serious enthusiast end users.
 

While the manufacturer-supported large distributors maintain showrooms with competitively priced products and manufacturer training, this is for the benefit of the custom installer/integrator, not the end user. The “selling” is to the custom installer/integrator, who is then expected to “sell” and “push” the product to the end user. This is similar to the traditional role manufacturers have had with specialty retailers, except that end users benefited directly by visiting brick-and-mortar stores and conversing with trained salespeople who could explain and demonstrate through A/B product comparisons. There are, for the most part, no requirements for the custom installer/integrator to stock and display and demonstrate product. Individual custom installers/integrators can simply purchase as needed, without regard to quantity, a product or products for an install. Some custom installer/integrator services are divisions of brick-and-mortar stores with “demo/education” facilities, but a large majority of custom installers are small operations with no storefronts and no capability to demonstrate product. Distributor showrooms are restricted to resellers with a tax ID.
 

Some custom installers/integrators purchase products as needed through licensed and manufacture-authorized retailers, which is generally not supposed to be permitted under the selling terms set by manufacturers.
 

Manufacturers who are allowing their performance products to be sold through non-brick-and-mortar and non-demo/education custom installers and on the Internet are a problem for the specialty retailer, and thus, for consumers who desire to experience in person what performance products are all about. If this scenario persists, the complete demise of specialty dealers with brick-and-mortar stores with “demo/education” facilities will result.
 

It seems strange that as a society we are increasingly adopting “catalog” Internet purchase searches rather than the in-person shopping experience due in large measure to lower cost. The opportunities and choices for being able to see, touch, and experience specialty audio and video products that potentially interest us is becoming more and more scarce as Internet, “warehouse,” and “box store chains” win the consumers’ dollars, with lower prices for the same product showcased at specialty dealers. These conditions significantly result in the demise of specialty dealers and specialty high-performance product manufacturing. A far more sustainable use of the Internet would be to direct interested consumers to exclusively authorized brick-and-mortar stores with “demo/education” facilities to transact sales. Such policies would incentivize specialty retailers to broaden their territories and widen their product offerings.
 

Today, consumers are enticed with the “lowest” prices on the Internet or at the “warehouse” or “box store chain” and are able to ignore the in-person experience, or to opt for the in-person experience and then purchase the product on the Internet––if they can find it being sold. This hurts brick-and-mortar retailers.
 

Today’s specialty retailers are increasingly dealing with enthusiasts, who have gathered opinions from magazines, Web sites, and Internet forums. These interested consumers come into their stores (when they can find them) to confirm for themselves the performance qualities and benefits of products they have read about (if the store carries them).
 

But the store experience is increasingly used to verify product claims with the interested consumer ending up leaving the store to seek the lowest price elsewhere at a discount “warehouse” store or on the Internet. Often, the end user, who has purchased the product elsewhere at the cheapest price, will return to the specialty retailer to request installation service or specific guidance, even though the product was not purchased there.
 

So, it comes down to the manufacturers of performance products and their decision to sell their product to non-brick-and-mortar specialty retailers––thus no longer assuring specialty retailers of exclusivity. Thus, those manufacturers opting to do so are contributing to the demise of the specialty retailer and the service that they can provide for enriching the positive perception of consumers toward their products.
 

Brand recognition and respect and praise are important. The specialty retailer, as well as the enthusiast press, has always driven such consumer perceptions. But without specialty retailers, brand appreciation for performance products will eventually disappear. That will end up creating the perception that except for “features,” there is no “real” difference in performance, so the lowest price will dominate the purchase decision. No longer will there be the respected and trusted specialty dealer who educates and demonstrates, and thus instills the perception and reality of performance attributes and the appreciation for such.
 

Because of this movement to the Internet, “discount outlets,” and the non-brick-and-mortar “custom installer/integrator” operations, manufacturers are digging a hole that will eventually bury the performance products category because consumers will have nowhere to experience in person the benefits and nuances, which can be subtle but distinguishing and appreciative, and that result in “the best that it can be” picture and sound experience.

This movement to non-personal involvement in performance product selection and purchase decisions is not suddenly going to reverse itself and return to the esteemed position that specialty retailers once claimed, wherein they provided their customers with product education, demonstration, after purchase in-home installation, service, and warranty. It will take some time before manufacturers of performance products realize what they helped to destroy. But will it be too late? Currently manufacturers are largely existing on their brand’s reputation that has been fortified through advertising and marketing in traditional media and through specialty stores over a period of years (up to 2007 when the economy began its downturn). But will such reputations last in a world where the lowest bottom price is what drives consumers to the Internet, unknowing about performance and why true performance products cost more? Even with all the dissemination of information, both in print and digital delivery and online, and through moving pictures, without the real world of personal experience there will be no way to grow real appreciation for performance products. It has been nearly six years since the melt­down started to take hold, with no end in sight, and the clock continues to move precariously forward but at an all too unsure pace. This is true for the hardware, as well as the content reproduced through the hardware. In the meantime, manufacturers of performance products and content producers continue to lose the proven means to create excitement and demand for their innovation and creativity.

 

 

As a publication, we are constantly being challenged by this developing scenario. Our distribution is three-prong: 1) direct our content to the enthusiast, whether the end-user consumer who purchases performance products or the specialty retailer or “custom installer/integrator” who seeks knowledge to better represent performance products to consumers; 2) distribute the magazine to the owner/decision makers belonging to the influential manufacturer and retailer member trade groups (CEDIA, PRO Group, HES, Nationwide, and HTSA) to keep the “specialty dealer” and “custom installer/integrator” side of the business aware of our educational role; and 3) maintain a mirror replica of the magazine (we call it a Webzine), plus other information such as industry news, back issues, and searchable databases on the Internet (www.widescreenreview.com). As well, the print edition is published as a digital formatted edition optimized for smartphones and tablets, both Apple and Android platforms, and pdf downloads.