Rebranding "Dayton Audio"

[awwnuts]

I see some threads now and then (like Daber Audio) using components from Parts Express and rebranding them. What's to stop someone from buying a bunch of equipment and slapping their name on it/reboxing it?

Are there legal ramifications?

EDIT: Gee, maybe it's possible!

[jsr]

Dayton builds and designs for the OEM market also. All these companies are doing is getting Dayton to build products (be it to Dayton's off the shelf specs or custom specs) for them to resell. Everyone does it. Most speaker companies don't make their own drivers (aside from a few like Focal, Dynaudio, Morel, etc. and even they resell to other companies to use their drivers in the other company's speakers) and use drivers from other brands. PSB loves to use Tymphany.

[billfitzmaurice]

Dayton builds and designs for the OEM market also.

Dayton also sources a lot of what they put they're name on, and other companies may source from the same sources. But yes, I've seen Dayton rebranded with other names, sometimes with substantial markups. Caveat emptor.

[jsr]

Yes, Dayton contracts chinese build houses which often sell designs to others, unless theres exclusivity in the contract, so it'd be nice to find some non-branded dayton products. I'm especially interested in the cabs as knowing the build house could give you flexibility in sizes and/or finish options as well as cost.

[richt@daytonaudio.com]

Yes, Dayton contracts chinese build houses which often sell designs to others, unless theres exclusivity in the contract, so it'd be nice to find some non-branded dayton products. I'm especially interested in the cabs as knowing the build house could give you flexibility in sizes and/or finish options as well as cost.

Dayton Audio items are not only manufactured in China, but in the USA, Taiwan, and other countries where we have partner factories that we work with based on their expertise in specific disciplines.

[r-carpenter]

So, what are umpa lumpas in China and Taiwan making per month, working on the chocolate Dayton factories? How are environmental practices?

[philiparcario]

less then some places more then others.

[tktran]

It's easy to confuse Taiwan with China, or South Korea with North Korea, or Vietnam with Thailand, or Slovakia with Denmark or USA with Mexico.

There is a world of difference between conditions in Taiwan and China. In fact, a problem with employment in Taiwan is that many multinationals eg. HTC, Asus, Acer, Giant etcave shipped their manufacturing to China, much like the Americans eg. Apple

[awwnuts]

Dayton Audio items are not only manufactured in China, but in the USA, Taiwan, and other countries where we have partner factories that we work with based on their expertise in specific disciplines.

So does Dayton Audio (or Parts Express) custom build for OEMs? It seems that a presumably small company like Daber wouldn't be able to purchase an entire container of product directly from an overseas supplier. That's a lot of front end cost.

I hope I'm not asking sensitive questions; I'm just curious. I see this sort of thing quite often.

[TAJ]

The example cited earlier with Daber is a process known as ODM or Original Design Manufacturing. There are a lot of variations as to how OEM and ODM relationships can work, and theres' some overlap between the two concepts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origina...n_manufacturer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oem

My guess about the Daber example is that Daber contacted Dayton and said "we'd like to sell your ProductX with our own branding on it." Dayton struck a price deal with Daber then had their contract manufacturing facility (probably in China for speakers) produce that product with the Daber logo on it instead of the Dayton logo. Then it was probably shipped to Dayton in the same shipping container as a regular Dayton shipment and then forwarded to Daber. If it was a big enough order to justify a container of its own, then it would have been shipped directly to Daber. If Daber is located on a different continent than Dayton, it was probably shipped directly by common carrier, trucked on skids, or whatever, from the factory in China.

Another possibility is that the Daber brand is owned by Dayton and just used to cover a different market segment. But that doesn't seem as likely to me in this case.

This is all just guessing, as I have no knowledge of how Dayton conducts their business, but it's all very common.

..Todd

[TAJ]

And of course there's another less legitimate possibility; that Dayton has no knowledge or approval of the existence of an originally branded or re-branded batch of their product. I'm not suggesting that happened here, but it certainly wouldn't be the first time or even a rare occurrence.

..Todd

[awwnuts]

And of course there's another less legitimate possibility; that Dayton has no knowledge or approval of the existence of an originally branded or re-branded batch of their product. I'm not suggesting that happened here, but it certainly wouldn't be the first time or even a rare occurrence.

..Todd

So, is it legal to do that? It seems anyone with a roll of stickers can create their own brand....

I understand precisely how OEM/ODM works. I'm also aware that Parts Express doesn't (or hasn't) engaged as an ODM for any of their customers, but are ODMs themselves. Maybe that has changed?

[johnnyrichards]

That Daber Audio guy better learn some technical writing/website skills or hire someone to cover his a$$.

Nothing I hate more than people putting on high end airs with a $0.30 website like mine.

Dead links, typos, poor syntax are all signs of either a complete amateur or someone who does not have the time to dedicate to his business - regardless of his passion.

Like it or not, this day and age a guy better have his website spit-shined if he wants to be taken seriously.

[Face]

So, is it legal to do that? It seems anyone with a roll of stickers can create their own brand....

Of course not, but it's common with products made in China.

[Face]

These look like Dayton woofers...

[spasticteapot]

So, is it legal to do that? It seems anyone with a roll of stickers can create their own brand....

I understand precisely how OEM/ODM works. I'm also aware that Parts Express doesn't (or hasn't) engaged as an ODM for any of their customers, but are ODMs themselves. Maybe that has changed?

Here's a very short form explanation of how this sort of thing goes.

1. Parts Express designs a woofer.
2. PE builds the woofer or, more likely, outsources it to someone else.
3. A 3rd party purchases a quantity of the woofer without purchasing the IP used to design the woofer.
4. The 3rd party rebrands the woofer, and sells at retail with mark-up.
5. PE receives cash, 3rd party makes a profit, and everyone's happy.

Where the shenanigans begin is when:
6. The outsourcing factory makes an extra batch of woofers without telling PE.
7. The 3rd party then buys the woofers at reduced price, removing from the equation any profits for Parts Express.