Question Hifi sales data?

[drewvankuiken]

Hi folks,
I'm an academic who's writing a paper about innovation in the Hifi industry. I'm really excited about the idea, but struggling to find data on product sales. Total longshot, but does anyone know where this might exist?* I have a small budget for data purchases, so purchasing is fine. Thanks in advance for your help!

* So far, NPD has said they don't work with academics (bummer!) and I've emailed Futuresource (from the Loudspeaker Industry Sourcebook) a number of times without an answer.

 

[nopiano]

It’s a great question, but I’ve absolutely no idea where that information might reside, other than in the heads of respective manufacturers.

I’ve occasionally, over the years, looked at British Hifi company balance sheets at Companies House, but very few voluntarily declare sales numbers. You can guess the average trade price and divide it into the turnover, if its clearly shown, but that doesn’t necessarily help much if the value of each line varies widely. There are very few volume Hifi products these days, and even those are ‘a drop in the ocean’ when compared to TV or cell phone sales.

You could try ringing the Hifi magazine titles, to see if they have any better ideas. In the UK there’s not even a large trade body representing manufacturers or dealers that I can recall. Good luck!

 

[drewvankuiken]

Thanks so much for the response - really appreciate it. I'll start by calling some of the Hifi titles. That seems quite promising. The lack of a trade group is really a bummer overall, they're probably the ones I'd like to turn to first!

 

[Revolutions]

I'm an academic who's writing a paper about innovation in the Hifi industry.

Going to be a short paper.

… sorry, couldn’t help myself 😁 - sounds really cool. Wish I could be of use, good luck with it, and if you ever wanted to share it here, I’d read it!

 

[drewvankuiken]

hahaha I suppose that's part of the point! It's a model of competition and economies of scope, so it will (hopefully) explain why innovation has slowed so much. Appreciate the perspective though, always helpful to hear from people on the message boards about this stuff. I will happily share whatever I end up with here.

 

[landco]

I'm an academic who's writing a paper about innovation in the Hifi industry.

There has been no innovation in this area for many years. What you mistake for innovation is marketing.