There are many winners in this pandemic as the boom in car audio continues in many areas. Here are two of the more obvious winners in the head unit category that have been able to deliver in strong quantities, while others have struggled to keep pace.
BOSS and Epsilon brands have stood out in their ability to supply dealers and broaden their brick and mortar distribution.
The BOSS Elite brand is up 280 percent. All BOSS brands overall have doubled in sales this year to date over last year, (BOSS was closed in April last year) and they were up 40 percent in 2020 over 2019.
Both Best Buy and Crutchfield have beefed up their presence with the brand and BOSS believes it was the brand’s visibility in Crutchfield that helped legitimize it to brick and mortar 12 volt specialists. Many members of the Mobile Electronics Specialists of America (MESA) buying/marketing group have added BOSS since the pandemic.
Distributor GEMSEN of Canada says its sales are up 150 percent with BOSS.
The company has been one of the most aggressive in supplying head units. It is currently air shipping in tens of thousands of head units for July. “We have containers of products ready and we can’t get the [actual] containers,” said VP Sales Doug Kern. “Even at $15,000 a container we can’t get them. The port area had a major breakout [of COVID]. All drivers have to go into quarantine so they are not driving. Alternative ports are so far away. We are air shipping despite the $15 per head unit cost compared to $2 because we need to keep the momentum going. It eats up profits,” said Kern.
“We think the momentum is going to carry over. We think we’re really in a pivotal stage in our company of 34 years,” he added.
Another winner in the pandemic to date has been Epsilon. Epsilon brands are up 220 percent over last year. But Ronnie Brashear is not as bullish on the months to come for the industry overall.
“I’ve been in my career for 30 years. I’ve been a regional and national and now VP. I’ve always been able to forecast out 90 to 120 days. Now we’re forecasting out over a year and it’s an educated guess at best. But parts are so far out I’ve got to forecast a year in advance…Again, let me stress we’re in a bubble and at some point it will pop.”
We should say that many secondary brands have also fared well during the pandemic including DS18 and Nakamichi.
@GDUB you will look to punish your retailers when things come back to normal, because YOU (or your brand/s) couldn’t supply them? Business is business, it is based on SUPPLY meeting DEMAND, it sounds as if you couldn’t meet either of those requirements, and still can’t…..
By your rationale, your dealers should pay their bills with hopes and dreams, rather than dollars and cents……#youarewhatswrongwiththisindustry
I’d also like to point out that there are no ‘winners’ in this pandemic…. the people who died wouldn’t consider that those who lived are “winners”…
Sorry CE Outlook, very POOR choice of words in today’s world.
With all respect to the secondary brands they have primarily faired well because the tier one brands can’t supply. This momentum will not continue, it will burst, I agree with Epsilon. Once tier one comes back with stock the boom times for these brands will diminish, it’s a given. Retailers need to survive therefore buy what they can sell but let’s not forget many many retailers are where they are today and in business because of long standing relationships and support from the tier ones who created this industry. What will be really interesting is the level of reciprocal support and where loyalties will lie ( from both retailers and suppliers – it’s a two way street) once a level of “ normality” returns, I for one will be looking very closely at those retailers who stood by me through this terrible period and, of course, those that didn’t.