But cellphone manufacturing is not exactly the most promising business either. In some countries like India, cellphones may sell for as little as $30 USD, though they may just be dumb phones ...
I get that, but it is still a bigger market. They are a big company and are not going to make niche products. Back in the day digital players were a large market which no longer exists. Mobiles are universal with everyone out of the crib.
Sony has significantly pared back on its cellphone models. Is it ES line of audio components still being made?
RE Sony US I think the Hap Z1ES is still made but it plays files not disks. Their current hifi products are mostly in the $300- $600 range except for a few home theater amps. So the ES designation is rather suspect. I don't see any CD players offered by Sony Us. Not sure what Sony Japan offers.
Different Oppo. Oppo Electronics and Oppo Digital are not directly related. I mean, they are related in the same way that Dairy Queen and Helzberg Diamonds are.
Sony still makes some very good receivers in its ES Range. I have a Sony STR-ZA5000ES and the sound quality is really, really good (as it should be at $2799 MSRP—it sounds every bit as good as that price tag suggests). And that’s coming from a “tube guy” like me.
Which Oppo makes the cellphones? Oppo Digital or Oppo Electronics? They are actually different companies?
Oppo Digital is/was a U.S. company based in Mountain View and then Menlo Park, CA focused on digital A/V products. They were either a subsidiary of or licensee of the name name from Oppo Electronics out of China.
I noted the exception of a few home theater amps in my message which I loosely meant to be receivers. Sorry for the confusion. The number of players though is sharply down and lower quality. They are basically doing streaming devices.
Is it really a strong analogy between Berkshire Hathaway and BBK Electronics? Berkshire is a rather loose conglomerate with wildly different companies as your example illustrated. BBK is an electronics firm with various subsidiaries whatever their degree of independence. I don't know the precise answer but it doesn't seem comparable to me on the face of it.
I just checked. BBK Electronics has nothing to do with the Berkshire Hathaway founded by Warren Buffett even though Berkshire owns GEICO, a candy company, railroads, utility company and a slew of other companies in various industries ... BBK Electronics - Wikipedia
Coop you misunderstood the post. BBK Electronics is the parent company of Oppo Electronics and Oppo Digital. Berkshire owns Dairy Queen and Hershberg Diamonds. Of course they have nothing to do with each other. It was BB who was making an analogy between them related to corporate structure.
Why? That's where the money is today. The Oppo Reno is around £400 for the sim-free model in the UK, so a midrange handset. That gives them access to a much larger market globally that buys a new handset every year, 18 months or every two years. The market utterly dwarfs the audiophile counterpart. If those phones are a success, expect to see Oppo churn out more expensive handsets to challenge the Apple and Samsung ranges. Big ask though.
Sony ES products are not what they were in terms of build quality. Current product would not pass muster for standard Sony line of old in build terms. Same may apply for electrical components but since it's all chips these days a direct comparison is not easy. The ES designated range seems pretty limited and consisting of random products. You might have thought they would have followed Technics with vinyl playback and other hi-fi products but I doubt there is any clear strategy or direction these days.
I don't have a spare but I do have the 4-pin XLR cable that Opp0 offered and it is except for connectors the same cable material as the 1/4" and a good cable. Otherwise I would recommend having ArcticCables make one up for you, I have several from them from eBay purchases and they are excellent sonically and in build quality.
That won't last forever, with 8k on the horizon, and more audio formats being developed. Something will supplant it.
Smartphones and TV's are the biggest consumer electronic's market's in the world. Neither are on the endangered technologies list.
Yes, somebody out there is just crying for yet another format to release Pet Sounds and Kind Of Blue in before dropping the standard within the ensuing two years. "AtmosCart", anyone...? Maybe a 6" disc you have to store in the refrigerator?
"Kind of Blue" has already been remixed for Dolby Atmos.... Miles Davis' 'Kind of Blue' Stunningly Good in Atmos
Yes, but not in the exhilarating, stultifyingly new..."ATMOSCart!"TM (The two on the right are the mains, the brown ones are rears, the short one is in the center...and the bass frequencies must be purchased separately...only in the Ponyo Store...)
Oppo Electronics is the cellphone manufacturer, with huge global operations. Oppo Digital was the Blu-ray player and headphone manufacturer. Both were subsidiaries of BBK Electronics. Oppo Digital was the US-based operation with US officers (CFO, CTO, etc.), US employees, etc., and designed its products in California and Arizona, and manufactured its products (most probably in BBK Electronics factories) in China and the Philippines, with some assembly and QC in the SF Bay Area. It was a really small company. Oppo Digital still exists as a skeleton crew to provide product support and warranty work for its products, but is no longer manufacturing anything.
They don’t *quite* meet the build quality standards of the old line, but trust me, the transformer in the za5000es is a good 30 lbs and the internal heat sink is massive. Significant gold tracings on some circuit board conductors too. No rosewood side panels or copper plating on the chassis, but the build quality is there where it counts. It feels every pound a $2799 unit. Have you seen and handled one yourself?
My point is that they are totally different companies, making totally different products in different locations, but linked by common ownership. I think the analogy is apt.
