Do you guys think Yamaha's price hikes are helping or hurting them? I'm curious to know why Yamaha jacked their prices to begin with too. I would assume Yammie played a business game to boost sales PRIOR to the price hike.., which would makes sense as to why it was so HEAVILY announced. Scare eveyone into buying the gear before the prices go up..., and I'm sure that worked for them to some degree

However.., I've been noticing something lately. I'm going to use one of Yamaha's budget workstations as an example. For a while you could get a Yamaha MO6 and a Roland Juno G for the same price. I'm not going to argue sound quality as that's so subjective and I don't think we can beat that old horse to death anymore than we already have. However.., in terms of features the Juno G is clearly a mile or two ahead of the MO in this area (not sure if you guys know but the Juno G is s sampling workstation now with the latest software update). Yamaha hasn't added ANYTHING to the MO line that compares to the Juno's software updates yet. It's just that I've noticed some places have increased the cost of the MO6 up to $1,099 (although you can still find it for $999 in some places).., but with Roland's deals you still get a more feature packed Juno G for less).

Not long ago they were both essentially the same price..., the Juno did a few more things.., but they went for the same price. When Yamaha did the price jack it then put the lesser featured packed MO6 at $100 more than the Juno G. Now Roland has a special that puts the Juno G $200 under the MO6. I could be wrong.., as I can't remember for sure if the MO line was or was not part of Yammie's price increase.., but I have noticed some online retialers have increased the MO's by at least $100. Perhaps they're getting a bit greedy too

Anyone else think Yamaha's maybe going in the wrong direction? They jack prices of gear that's been out for a while. Companies like Korg was dropping prices. Roland did a price jack on the Fantom.., but that was while ago too.

What do you guys think? Does it make sense for Yamaha to be jacking prices of gear that's been out for a while? I wonder if they're going to use the price jacks to set a bar for their next releases to be priced even higher. Kinda softening the blow to the consumer. Get everyone used to the jacked prices where they are now and when the new gear is released the price increase on that may not look as large since they increased price on current lines.



[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 05-15-2009).]

To keep the playing ground level, it would also make very good sense to follow with the question:

Why has Roland not raised their prices?

Both topics can only invite speculation, unless one were to have inside knowledge of Roland and Yamaha marketing departments.

If someone does have this relevant information, I'm sure they'll be only too glad to disclose it on to a public forum.

Ian

Roland DID raise prices. The Fantom G line had a price increase a while back. Korg is reducing prices.., Roland raised the Fantom G's..., but is using the Juno G price drops trying to get a good hold on the budget workstation market. Roland continues to release very notable updates for the Juno-G and most recently turned the Juno-G into a sample workstation. Yamaha has done very little for MO owners at this point..., Korg has left a lot of room for the M50 line for updates too.

What bothers me is Yamaha jacked prices on gear AFTER it had been out for a while. Are they going to drop them back down eventually or take advantage of keeping those prices hiked so they can get even more money on the price increase with the new models by getting everyone used to the price hike first. If they keep prices where they are now with the jacks take into consideration how much that price increase will be on the new gear if they go on these current price jacks. There's only a $200 price difference between a PSR-S900 and a Korg M3 at the moment. Yamaha's price jack was on quite a few products. Just because Roland didn't jack all their prices doesn't mean somethings wrong on their end. Info I got was that Roland's Fantom G's prices before the increase was for introductory prices. Yamaha's price increase on the Motif XS line (at the time of the increase) was well past introductory.

I can understand Roland's price hike..., there's quite a bit the G does above all the others in terms of navigation.., Yamaha had to follow up to that. Yamaha waited a long time before jacking the Motif line's price.



[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 05-15-2009).]

Im sure these corporations well paid marketing & research teams know what they are doing in regards to pricing. Plus in the end you have the choice to buy or not.

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 05-15-2009).]

It's funny how we so often just assume "they must know what they're doing". Yeah.., we got the option to buy or not.., but we consumers at least have the right to question these corps who "know what they're doing"

I think it's a very fair question to ask that if company way down the line jacks their prices on gear that's been out for a while..., if they'll be using that price jack as a basis for the next models. When the new models come out..., take the price jack away of the current line and then do the math to see what the real cost increase was.

My faux pas, Squeak, I was just going on the topic's title...I did not realize that Roland had increased prices on some products as well.

The question(s)really cannot be directly answered and can only bring speculation, unless, as I said earlier, someone has inside access to Roland, Yamaha and Korg marketing departments.

If all you are after is hypothetical replies, and musings, then the topic is fine.

Hard answers, however, will be difficult or impossible to obtain.

Ian

I'm just curious on what members thoughts are really. Not a pissing contest with brand A and brand B. Taking into consideration the economy.., it's just something that has me puzzled that's all.

Yamaha makes great sounding gear. They've clearly set the standard in some areas. I'm just curious why they would raise prices in this mannor considering they've already established themselves quite well over the years. I guess it would be different if Yamaha hadn't raised their prices so far into the line too.

Watching the news this morning I just see so much going down the tubes with the economy and have been curious if Yamaha plans on bringing those prices back down to what they were prior to releasing the new models. Otherwise the true price increase between these current models and the next may not look too bad BEFORE you take into consideration what the price was before Yamaha increased them so far into the game.

[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 05-15-2009).]

well, I can't say for sure but I remember yamaha's s900 when up $100 in march and I can only think that maybe cost of manufacturing went up, parts, etc who knows. But as Donny stated before. you have a choice, don't buy it. This is a never ending arguement. I know for sure the $1799 for the s900 is a steal with all its sounds, styles and features. I think if your going to spend $1699, another $100 is well worth it.

Also If your comparing arrangers vs workstations, I think that they are two different animals.

It may be as simple as adjusting the price according to the value of the US dollar.
DonM

Doesn't it at all scare some of the PSR owners here that IF Yamaha bases the next PSR-S900 replacemnt on the CURRENT increased cost..., that the new model may be selling for close to two grand!!!!!!!

MC you'd be surprised that when you strip it down the many similarities there are between the two types of keyboards and even Yamaha is moving forward into helping that line fade. Too many arranger owners seem to forget that you're already using something that's on workstations. All those great guitar licks and riffs you're hearing on your arrangers are ARPS with chord recognition. Yamaha has blessed Motif XS owners with arps that "in some ways" give the player the feel of an arranger style play (finally someone did it). What you guys calls styles on arrangers are called patterns and arps on workstations. Just as much work goes into creating those too. Even Phil Clendenin at Yamaha will tell you how much work goes into making those great acoustic style arps on the Yamaha's that you find on BOTH arrangers and workstations. You guys have them in your PSR S series.., but use them a little differently. If you record say a guitar lick to a multipad on your PSR.., set it to loop and use it in your style.., you've just created a basic arp.