Based largely on market feedback from dealers and end users alike, Kaleidescape has reversed its decision to discontinue selling its Premiere line. However, this will not be available to the whole market, but only to customers who owned Premiere systems before the general end of sale, which was July 31, 2020 and is scheduled to run initially till the end of this year, with another assessment taking place then.
Kaleidescape’s previous pledge was to carry on supporting these systems, but has now announced that it will also make available for sale Premiere players, vaults, and servers to existing customers who purchased before July 31, 2020. Models may vary over time (M300 or M500, DV700 or M700, 1U or 3U) and may be new or remanufactured. Pricing for new Premiere products, when available, remains the same. Pricing for remanufactured Premiere products has increased, but they can be purchased as add-ons (not just repair replacements). The warranty has increased from one year to two.
The original decision to stop selling the Premiere line was based on reduced consumer demand for the system and significant challenges in sourcing parts to manufacture Premiere systems. Declining sales of DVD and Blu-ray discs created decreased interest in products that play movies in these formats, which in turn made it more difficult to procure certain parts necessary to manufacture products that play DVDs and Blu-ray discs.
However, Kaleidescape understands that many clients love their Premiere systems and are not able to move to the new Strato products, particularly in areas where there is no Kaleidescape movie store.
Commenting on the move, US and International Marine Sales Manager at Kaleidescape, Bob Ozer, says, “Great news! Kaleidescape has decided to start the New Year by continuing to support their large Premiere legacy system customer base for as long as they can. This announcement was a pleasant surprise to us as well. Now those Premiere customers who may have missed the opportunity to purchase add-on players, disc vaults, and servers when the End-of-Sale was supposed to be July 31st, 2020, can continue to enjoy their disc-based cinematic experience for the foreseeable future. To highlight some of these offers, Kaleidescape is offering these add-on components as remanufactured units PLUS the warranty has increased from one year to two and there is no need to return any defective units as required in the past.”
Simon Schino, Brand Manager for Kaleidescape at Pulse Cinemas, adds, “We understand that this represents a significant about face from the manufacturer, but it is a positive move that means those Premiere customers who have invested heavily in their system can carry on being fully supported not just with servicing, but new products as well. The move means that whilst the company continues to expand into and use the very latest technological approaches represented by the Strato line, it has recognised the significant role the Premiere line continues to play in the Kaleidescape family, and we are delighted to be able to offer the full experience to existing customers.”
If you have any questions at all on the above please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us. Simon Schino is your first port of call for Kaleidescape, and there is also a very useful FAQ section on the Kaleidescape website right here which covers any questions you may have about the new arrangements.
