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The Lucrative (And Growing) Niche Of Luxury Audio

September 30, 2018

The Lucrative (And Growing) Niche Of Luxury Audio

While the term “luxury” conjures up a range of different images, depending upon whom you speak with, there’s no denying that it implies something that’s not strictly necessary. Whatever that luxury item may be, it’s always a status symbol and, above all, it is meant to be of excellent quality.

In the world of audio, luxury is restricted to the highly passionate audiophile or — more likely — the very wealthy who seek to ensure their home is equipped with the very best and most stylish kit available. Futuresource Consulting defines a luxury home audio component as costing $5,000 or more, with speakers costing $10,000 or more per pair. We estimate this market to be worth over $400 million in the U.S. alone, and approaching $1 billion worldwide. Those who can afford such equipment tend to be cash-rich but time-poor. As a result, they rely on others to make recommendations and this has massive implications on what brands they acquire and which channels they buy from.

The brands involved are diverse and — in many cases — not even familiar to the mass market consumer. Specialty luxury brands such as Bryston, Burmester, MBL, Krell, SIM Audio Moon and Wilson benefit from the cachet of being relatively unknown, whilst others such as B&W, Martin Logan and KEF carry flagship products the purpose of which is primarily to provide a halo effect for their mid-range, but still premium products. In the case of B&W this is the $70,000 Nautilus pair of speakers. KEF offers the $32,000 Blade speakers.

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https://www.twice.com/product/lucrative-growing-niche-luxury-audio