Vacuum Cleaners Discussions

A few days ago I spoke with Tom Gasko, who was, and I do emphasize the past tense, a huge supporter of Dyson. The unit he sold and promoted was the now defunct DC07. Everything produced by Dyson since has been of inferior quality. The DC14 reduced the size of the bin because comsumers thought the DC07 looked too bulky. The hose handle was changed because consumers thought it was too much trouble to invert the wand. Hype and hyperbole have been the tools of Dyson marketing since before their incursion into North America. Does anyone remember the original Fantom? Dual cyclone, Dyson invention. Dyson forgot the K.I.S.S. principle. The first 400,000 or so units with their B&D motors were great vacuums. The only reason the ones still running have to go to the junkheap is because parts are no longer available. If Dyson had put his dual cyclone with the improved shroud on top of the Fantom brush roll/head with a v-belt and a full-diameter wand inside a hose large enough to store it, it would have been the perfect bagless vacuum! More cyclones mean more convoluted dirt paths. A powerful enough motor would have boosted the performance of the dual cyclone sufficiently to have made a washable permanent hepa filter feasible.

Dyson was stupid. If he had played his cards right, he could have utterly, totally, completely destroyed the world vacuum cleaner market. But he is in love with his prowess as an engineer, and believes himself above the laws of marketing. Here's what he should have done, and screw astm and all the rest.

1) Create a retrofit single cyclone bagless conversion kit for all uprights. Start marketing on infomercials, and QVC. Do the vacuum demo trick with the consumers own vacuum, clean with a bag, and clean with the conversion kit. See, you don't need a new vacuum at all, you just need our kit to make your old vacuum better than any new vacuum you can buy!

2) Get the vac shops involved. Stay out of the big box retailers! The sales of new vacs and vac bags are hurting, and the sales of old vacs are more profitable than ever. People are buying the conversion kits and keeping their old vacuums. It's obviosly a defensible patent. Don't sell or lease it. The minor players start dropping like flies. Let them. Keep it up until the big players are bleeding. Vacuums are a minor product for big box retailers now, so they buy fewer of them. No one is going to notice or care, it's just vacuums, right?

3) Create the wand mounted dirt cup for canisters, create the new and improved version of the upright cup, hard plastic with push button bottom empty. Keep selling on QVC. Get cleaning professionals and allergists on the bandwagon. Save money! Make your old vacuum better than new!

4) Introduce small canisters, hand vacs and stick vacs with the cyclonic technology, to be continued

Fantom U.S. sales - first 3 years of business...

year 1 = $50m
year 2 = $100m
year 3 = $150m

Today...
Dyson sales = $1.5b

If Dyson could get broader patent and copyright/trademark protection he would probably gross $4-5b annually.


DIB

I didn't know Gasko wasn't a Dyson fan anymore.... (I was kicked out of his club for having an active profile with enemy, Vacuumland).... but I do agree that the DC07 was the best Dyson in my opinion... I sold them at Sears when Dyson first hit the US.  I have a DC14 and REALLY wish it was a DC07 instead... I still don't like the clutch assembly... but the handle and bin were much better on the 07!

DysonInventsBig wrote:

Hi DIB:

Today is a very subjective time period for sales.  I doubt dyson, as good as you think it is, could sell $1.5 BILLION every day.  Could you be more specific?  What time period is it?  Calendar year 2006, 7, 8? 

Carmine D.

And in other news tonight, the pope renounces his faith...

Model2 wrote:

.............in dyson and not Tom Gasko! 

Always like to know the correct news ending to the story!

Carmine D.

DysonInventsBig wrote:
CarmineD wrote:
Hey Carmine,

Gladly, but you first.  When you posted a week or so ago of a 30% Dyson sales decrease...  you did not say how.  Are folks abandoning Dyson for Dyson knock offs?  Is it the economy?  Has a new miracle bag been discovered? Or something other?

$1.5b in sales every day?  Walmart doesn't come close to those numbers.

DIB

Hello DIB:

Gladly.  I thought you would never ask.  If you're a daily reader of the business news/listener to business reports you wouldn't have to ask me.  Be that as it may, the Wall Street Journal has reported throughout the holiday season [and still] that sales of luxury goods at all the major US retailers are off a minimum of 30 percent in 2008.  I opine that a $500 plus vacuum is a luxury good.  Since dysons are sold primarily through big box retailers, then by deductive reasoning, dyson sales are off, at least in the USA, two-thirds of dyson's market, by at least 30 percent.    Of course, I corroborated this with a number of friends and family members who work for big box retailers and familiar with vacuum brands and sales.  Always nice to have corroborating evidence and support.  Note too from the link that you provide about ORECK, that Tom says 2008 sales are down from 2007.  But being a minor player in the US vacuum market, ORECK sales are not down nearly as bad as other vacuum makers [according to Tom].  Which do you think he's talking about?  Let's see.  Uhmm?  I got it!  Since dyson boasts about being number one in sales in the industry, it then must be number 1 in being down in sales too!  Make sense? Do you have evidence to disprove?

Carmine D.

DysonInventsBig wrote:

Actually, it might be close to half that daily amount.  I haven't seen the 2008 actuals and W*M revised estimates downward, but I think [if memory serves me right] the earnings were projected for the year in the $250 BILLION range.  That would be  $.7 Billion a day. 

That's the reason in large part that dyson went with the Sam's Club Stores' deal on dyson's DC27.  Couldn't get into the W*M stores with it but settled for the lesser Sam's.  Not sure yet whether DC27 is just internet and/or in stores sales.  Have to wait and see.

Carmine D.

CarmineD wrote:

Your deductive reasoning could be flawed.  Total sales are reported to be down 30%.  Some brands/items would be up and others down. Do you have figures to prove that Dyson was down 30%?

I am not saying you are wrong. Only that you haven't proven to be correct.

Hi HARDSELL:

Could be flawed?  No, sorry, my friend.  Your's could be flawed, so we both agree to disagree.  $1.5 BILLION in sales is the number DIB threw out.  Not me.  I responded to him with a question to state the time period for these sales.  He asked me to go first.  I did.  Now it's his turn to show his hand, not yours.  You can comment on my logical reasoning [with certainty] as flawed/correct after he weighs in.  Until then, I have the winning hand and DIB is still sitting on his.

Carmine D.