Kicker goes Walmart.

[naughtyca 10+ year member]

newb does have a point to a extant, pioneer amps and subs are rarely used at least in the circles i run in and sony forget about it but i dont think its wall-mart i think its more because those two companies do waaay more then car audio so they may just not care that much about car audio

I think it will be more expensive to alter the design and have 2 lines of product for the same model in the factory. they probably just cut the profit margin from products being sold in walmart. the $25 speaker they sell probably cost them $5 bucks to make and if they sell in walmart at $20 instead of $25 but they will sell a lot more it compensates their lower profit margin.

This is why a lot of business tries to go into walmart, eventhough lower profit margin but the amount of product being moved will compensate.

 

[naughtyca 10+ year member]

What I fail to understand is how Kickers quality is constantly in question or ppl are always saying "I'LL NEVER RUN KICKER AGAIN BECAUSE ONLINE SAYS SO" and how they sold out blah blah....but, Audiopipe is thriving as a forum boner.

because audio pipe is cheaper price wise and if priced right and amp delivers close to wattage it advertise people will buy it

 

[Tobtech]

I am shocked by the cavalier attitude of some of you defending big business here. Kicker did not need the money from this deal. This was greed, plain and simple. Kicker already outsells all competitors combined for subwoofer sales 10 to 1. This is a betrayal to all the dealers that put Kicker on the map in the first place. I am also shocked that some of you don't think this will effect quality. It has effected quality for ALL other manufacturers who have done this....ALL! People don't want Pioneer or Sony speakers or amps anymore because of the damage to their reputation done from selling cheaper products at Walmart. For those of you who don't know how Walmart operates.....first they get you in the door with your normal quality level of products......next they sell the crap out of them and you get huge sales.....then comes the hammer, they leverage the offers of other manufacturers against you to drive down the purchase price to NOTHING.......the manufacturer then has NO CHOICE but to cut costs in order to remain profitable. It has happened to ALL car audio products being sold at Walmart. Then the real damage is done....people who do not know how to install these products purchased at Walmart begin their word of mouth campaign about product failures. Ultimately, there goes your reputation for all products with that brand name on it. Remember this above all, Walmart didn't get where they are by being nice and paying huge amounts for products long term. They are the shrewdest of all businesses and know EXACTLY what they are doing. What is surprising here is that Kicker isn't smart enough to realize this.

As far as the part about Kicker not needing the money, tell that to the 40 and counting people that were laid off from Kicker over the past 3 years.