WILSON AUDIO/ cost vs. value


wilson ad; absolute sound;issue 162. page 12.... dave wilson states in his ad that wilson loudspeakers have one of the [ lowest ] profit margins in the industry. My question is should wilson make public their profit margin percentage's to back up their claims or is this more hyperbole from a high-end audio manufacturer...
aolmrd1241
Hikejohn, I think that your cost analysis is plain silly as every manufacturer follows a different formula for calculating costs. The industry does not follow any pre-made formula. Add to that the fact that many manufacturers are in the business to explore their passion rather then maximize profit.
Seems like Wilson is answering a question that was not asked. That's usually a sign of guilt.
Macro, is it a sign of their guilty conscience to feel justified with their prices, or yet another another tactic to try to convince us that their speakers are priced right and so worthy of our hard earned $'s.
I couldn't care at what price they sold at, the sound offered was nothing I'm interested in.
I am looking forward to hearing the new WP8 in LA this weekend.

With their current ad campaign, I think Wilson is trying to build a brand with similar attributes as those enjoyed by McIntosh in its heyday: quality, engineering excellence, overall excellence, the brand to own. Think of it as the Lexus or MBZ of loudspeakers. It's a good strategy for them, I think. They are trying to build a sustainable, long-term business, as they should. At this stage, they are less interested in the tweaky dickheads that hang out on Audiogon, and with good reason.

As to the profit margin statement, they probably do have a pretty good feel for what their competitors' margins are: they know component costs, they have intel about dealer margins, they know. Whether or not their margins are lower is hard to say, but perhaps they truly are.
Sure ol Wilson could care less about the few members here at Audiogon, what we say here will not affect their sales even at 1%. but its our OPEN freespeech forum and we can express our opinions in a friendly manner. And offer advice to others here. I can assure you I'm not at all interested in how much money Wilson makes. Good for him, sad for those who buy. As long as he does not get any of mine.
Nice Day
Paul