[Elysian]

Edit: Nevermind.  Google Translate was incorrect.  Please see my message below.

 

[KANA]

 
Quote:

$1.55 million US?????
That makes no sense at all.
A 1 bedroom apartment in Manhattan cost more than that.
Is this a joke?
 

 
It's no joke.
nikkei says "1億2000万円"　＝　120,000,000yen ≒ $ 1,546,000

 

[ardilla]

The price of a company is based on future income minus debt. A company with high turnover and no earnings is worth zero.  But then Elysian corrected the number to 25 million USD. 
Quote:

$1.55 million US?????
That makes no sense at all.
A 1 bedroom apartment in Manhattan cost more than that.
Is this a joke?
 

 

 

[paulchiu]

1 or even 25 million, this is very sad news for this 70+ years company and for those of us fans over the last half century.
 

 
Quote:

The price of a company is based on future income minus debt. A company with high turnover and no earnings is worth zero.  But then Elysian corrected the number to 25 million USD. 

 

 
 

 

[Elysian]

I was incorrect.  I just spoke with a Japanese coworker and they confirmed that Google Translate gave an incorrect translation.
 
Stax was sold for apprx $1mm USD.  Edifier does about $80mm USD in revenue.
 
Quote:

The price of a company is based on future income minus debt. A company with high turnover and no earnings is worth zero.

 
Yes, it's a straightforward way to assess the value of a company, which they teach in basic business accounting.
 
Even without looking at the numbers, you can tell that there are fundamental issues with Stax's business which makes it highly unlikely for the business to grow much beyond what it's currently at.  Tbh, this may have been one of the best outcomes for Stax, as their financial situation (lack of growth prospects, debt, probably had small assets, etc.) probably was almost certainly an albatross to advancing the technology and servicing customers.

 

[ardilla]

If STAX isn't worth more, they aren't doing very good business presently. So maybe a this is a good thing.... if the alternative is no STAX at all. The chinese will probably cut cost in production and change market strategy. Only time will show. 
Quote:

1 or even 25 million, this is very sad news for this 70+ years company and for those of us fans over the last half century.
 

 


 
 

 

 

[Elysian]

I hope that the Chinese will figure out how to make a $2.5k SR009.  The top-tier Chinese audio companies are making $5-10k amps and preamps that punch in the $20k+ weight class and are well-regarded in Asia and the western world, though they're still fighting to erase the stigma of copycat firms and companies peddling budget products with poor R&D.

 

[MuppetFace]

Quote:

I hope that the Chinese will figure out how to make a $2.5k SR009. 

That would be nice, if and only if the exacting build standards are maintained.

 

[Elysian]

What goes into building the 007 and 009?  Do they need a clean room environment?  Do they custom-make most of the parts or do they outsource components to Chinese/SE Asia companies?  How customized are the components?  How many hours does it take to assemble a headphone?
 
From speaking with a distributor for one high-end Chinese audio company, the Chinese companies definitely realize that you can forecast a certain demand depending on which price tier you're in, and that $5000 price is probably significantly hindering sales, particularly given how long Stax headphones typically last.

 

[spritzer]

All Stax drivers are assembled in a clean room.  It's the only way to assure they will work flawlessly for decades to come.  Rest of the parts are all custom made to exacting specs.  If a stator is even a few microns out of alignment then the distortion increases significantly. 
 
FTW. The SR-009 has already outsold the Orpheus by nearly a factor of two and is fast approaching the sales figures of the original SR-Omega in less than one year.  The HE90's took more than a decade to sell and the SR-Omegas about 3 years.  The price is clearly not a problem. 

 

[n3rdling]

Quote:

Stax was sold for apprx $1mm USD.  

Ok that makes more sense. 

 

[paulchiu]

$1mm for a company with $80mm in revenue?
what's the outstanding debt?
were credit derivatives involved?
good grief!
 

 
Quote:

Ok that makes more sense. 

 
 

 

[Elysian]

Quote:

$1mm for a company with $80mm in revenue?

 
No, you misread my post. Edifier makes $80mm/yr in revenue, not Stax.  No idea what Stax makes in annual revenue.
 
Granted, the colleague who read over the Nikkei article skimmed it pretty quick, but I remember that being mentioned during translation.
 
We have a few Japanese speakers in this thread, so they can probably clarify if they care to.

 

[visualguy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elysian /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
No, you misread my post. Edifier makes $80mm/yr in revenue, not Stax.  No idea what Stax makes in annual revenue.
 

Close to $3M I believe.

 
 

 

[Elysian]

Well, regardless, they've got enough cash on hand to buy Stax outright.  Edifier's corporate website says they have 3,000 employees, so it seems like they're doing something right.
 
Apparently you have to be careful while translating numbers from certain Asian languages, because software translation services miss context.