Bose Cuts Price of First VideoWave System, Now a Leader Model

Bose has lopped $1,500 off the suggested retail price of its first-generation 46-inch VideoWave TV/sound system as it brings to market two new models -- in 46-inch and 55-inch screen sizes -- Santiago Carvajal, business director for Bose Video products, told us Thursday. Suggested retail prices of the VideoWave II Entertainment System products are $4,999 and $5,999, steep for today’s cutthroat flat-panel market, but Carvajal justified the prices, as “three products in one” combining a TV, home theater system and music system in one package with no wires or separate speakers.

Price has been a prominent complaint in customer reviews since Bose launched the first VideoWave system two years ago. Having a $4,000 version offering 2-year-old technology gives the company a way to offer a lower cost version without sacrificing margins possible from those willing to spend a premium price from the latest LED technology, analysts said. The Bose product still comes in way above Samsung’s UN46ES6500FXZA 46-inch LED-based 3D Smart TV that was selling for $1,099 at Best Buy Thursday, discounted from $1,579. Samsung is Bose’s supplier for the VideoWave TVs, Carvajal said.

Neither Bose VideoWave II system offers 3D or Internet capability, although Bose does continue to monitor both markets, Carvajal told us. The primary obstacle in 3D is glasses, he said, because “consumers don’t like them.” Glasses-free is the way to go, he said, but that technology is far from being at a level consumers will find acceptable. On connected TV, technology changes at a fast pace, he said, and Bose believes consumers’ streaming video needs are best met by adding a box like those from Roku or Apple TV that bring connected TV capability to non-connected TVs. When Apple introduces a new Apple TV next year, he said, consumers will only have to spend $99 to get the latest streaming services instead of “buying a whole new VideoWave."

Still, Bose is “obviously looking into” connected TV for the future for its “clear benefit,” he said. When we asked about the update requirements with connected TVs to keep them current, Carvajal acknowledged that benefit and added that the system’s console has a USB port that users can employ when a software update is available. Consumers download an update from a computer to a thumbdrive and insert the drive into the console, he said. That functionality could be used to change the layout of the user interface, he said, which is “100 percent software-based.”

As in first-generation VideoWave TVs, the new models include iPod/iPhone docks for direct connection to those music sources. Bose hasn’t yet embraced direct connectivity for Android devices, Carvajal said, but is following Android developments “carefully.” Penetration of Android has grown, he noted, “but when you look at how Android phones are used, iOS is an overwhelming win over Android when it comes to streaming of music and AV content,” he said. Even though Android phones are “capable of doing music,” he said iOS “is way far ahead of Android” in overall customer use. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we support Android in the future,” he said, adding that he believes Android will get to where iOS is in music usage.

On what Bose has learned in its first two years in the video business, Carvajal said the company has improved on how VideoWave performs in different rooms and tweaked the sound accordingly, but he downplayed the changes and wouldn’t elaborate. VideoWave I customers can upgrade their products via USB to get “all those benefits,” he said. Changes to the RF remote control were largely cosmetic, he said. The remote is now anodized brushed aluminum and labels are “higher contrast” so they're easier to read, he said.

Regarding when the next VideoWave product might hit the market, Carvajal reiterated that Bose doesn’t discuss future product plans but said refresh rates of cycles will be quicker than refreshes of Bose’s audio products because the lifetime of LCD panel designs is one to two years. He noted that customers have shown a preference for thinner TVs, which has led to a move toward edge-lit designs, such as those in VideoWave II. Benefits that backlit LED TVs have shown “are not that visible,” he said, except with high-end panels that offer local dimming.

On the environmental side, Bose isn’t touting the energy-saving features of LEDs over compact fluorescent bulbs, Carvajal said, although salespeople may push that benefit. Energy savings are “not insignificant” but he said that’s “not the right message” for VideoWave, which instead is about getting rid of wires and speakers in a room. “When products begin to dilute the message of what they're about is when people don’t understand what they're about,” he said.

According to the Bose press release issued Thursday, recycling is part of the total system price for VideoWave II purchases, along with “white-glove delivery” and setup, but Carvajal didn’t have details about that part of the program, which, he said, is handled by the sales channel. A company spokesman didn’t provide details by our deadline of recyclers or how that program would work.

With Samsung set to debut an OLED TV later this year, we asked Carvajal if such a premium TV technology would appear in a future VideoWave product. “We're following OLED very closely” he said, adding that eventually Bose believes it will be a very interesting technology. First-generation OLED products due out from Samsung and LG will be priced at a level beyond the cost-benefit comfort level for Bose and its customers, he said. He conceded a difference in quality between OLED and LED-lit LCD TVs but said the cost doesn’t justify the investment for customers early on. “We're following it but don’t believe it’s the right time,” he said.