Fran, when you wrote:
"The best selling arranger last year , worldwide, was the Roland E-A7"
It seemed to imply sales as a new arranger. Possibly apart from the balkans, the middle east and asia where Korg seem to do very well, I'd have thought Yamaha ruled the roost. Roland arrangers would seem to be some way behind those two.
The E-A7 was the exception to the rule.. I was surprised that the board sold so well worldwide.. It was priced right, had styles from the areas you mentioned.. Easy to use sampler.. and features like 6 pads, 7 assign buttons.. besides a quality sound source..
It added up to big sales.. I believe the Korg PA300 was the next best selling arranger worldwide..