I also sell hi-end Italian made pro audio speakers, and I sell hi-end Automotive speakers and amps that are made in Italy.

The Owners of Electromedia, the makers of Audison, said that they sell 10 times the amount of products worldwide, they told me that the US buys nothing compared to the rest of the world, so when US potential buyers ask for certain changes, the company doesn't even lend a ear since what they are doing is working for 90% for the world.

The rest of the world uses arranger keyboards like the US has guitar players. So I know your saying well if they try they can get more sales from the US, but how much will it cost to just make a couple more sales.

I do like the philosophy of we will not change for just a few stubborn people.

Just to let you know

US may be less than 10% of their current market, but potentially, it has more wealth than the rest combined (or close to it). So, for the sake of a few fixes, and some styles that are geared more to us than Portugal (that economic powerhouse!), they would ignore a market with this amount of purchasing power?

Glad Yamaha and Korg (and Roland, to a lesser extent) don't treat us this way. Put it this way, Frank. Do you think, in the back of their minds, that Ketron would like the sales figures that the T3 has in the US? I bet you they'd cream themselves if they sold that many over here...

But sticking their noses in the air and going 'take it or leave it', well... It's obvious most have chosen to 'leave it' A small company like that can't afford to ignore a market with so much potential. If the Audya played in the same playground with Korg and Yamaha, it would give them a serious run for their money. But start to slip up into Wersi-like territory, and well, you know what is happening to Wersi....

Here are a few figures I hope everyone will find interesting..

Ketron Italy
2009 Sales (mil.) $6.0
Employees Total 21

Korg Inc.
2009 sales $173.5 (mil.)
Employees Total 290

Roland Corp.
2009 sales $387.7 (mil.)
Employees Total 2,708

Yamaha Corp.
2009 sales $4,721 (mil.)
Employees Total 26,803


As everyone can see Yamaha leaves everybody in the dust BUT their total is the "combined" total of ALL product divisions including their Motorcycles, Powered Jet Skis, Boats, Electronics, etc. Roland and Korg (and Ketron) are essentially selling musical instrument products only and products related to music media e.g speakers, recording devices, parts and accessories, etc.

What amazes me is that Ketron is still around at all. You have to hand it to Ketron's President Mario Falcioni whose tenacity at keeping Ketron afloat these last several years deserves major kudos for doing so. But I must add a strong note of caution about Ketron's foreseeable future as far as holding out much longer. If they do GREAT! But I have a lingering suspicion that Ketron may be facing a grim financial outlook in the near future as they struggle to make ends meet, and we could very well see the proverbial "writing on the wall" and their untimely demise at any time if you ask me.

General Music went belly up not too long ago and Ketron could be the next one to succumb to the dire world economy in my opinion. With the world economy still in the throes of a deep deep recession it is no wonder that thousands of companies are going under each year. And before General Music there was Technics (remember them??) - immediately leaving hundreds of KN7000 owners 'hung out to dry' as a result.

So as we see the arranger keyboard world whittled away by non-performing companies such as Technics and General Music what we have left standing is the Big Three and little else e.g. basically only Casio, Ketron, and Lionstracs. Whereas Casio is actually up and coming, Ketron seems to me to be on the way out or at the very least seen as "faltering" in the marketplace. Lionstracs is "up in the air" (out of sync) and very questionable as well, if you ask me. And only time will tell their fate(s) but I really hope they are able to overcome their difficulties and continue to thrive as companies. More competition means more choices for consumers and more choices means better prices for consumers overall. As we know many factors predispose the final outcome of various companies worldwide and the main harbinger for success in most cases, in my opinion, is whether the products being sold are considered top notch in quality and features, successfully marketed as such, reasonably priced against the competition, and what may be considered most important of all (at least by me anyway) - diligently "supported" by the manufacturer 'after' the sale. If companies adhere to those aforementioned principles they should be able to prosper and excel in the marketplace and even in tough times in my opinion. Examples being Yamaha, Korg, Roland and Casio. For the others, I wish for their success also. Time will tell of course.

All the best,
Mike

Wow! Sobering numbers, to say the least. One would have to conclude that unless you are comfortable buying what must be considered a 'boutique' keyboard, a Ketron would not be a smart buy for your average working musician, no matter what it sounded like. One other thing that separates Ketron from the 'big three' is their business model. Ketron seems to have thrown all eggs in the arranger basket while, for the others, arranger keyboards are actually the smallest part of their keyboard offerings. This could prove to be a fatal mistake.

This was a GREAT post, in that it sheds a lot of light on a lot of issues, such as, maintenance, support, new style development, support for 'old' products, etc., etc. In fact, anything that is going to be labor intensive. Once you take away the president, his son-in-law, his secretary, and the janitor, you can only spread 17 people so far. I wish them luck but I wouldn't hold onto that Ketron stock too long. JMO.

chas

at over 1/4 million dollars sales per employee that is incredible for a small company! That places Ketron ahead of Yamaha in productivity by over $100,000 per employee.

TWD


[This message has been edited by Tonewheeldude (edited 03-09-2010).]

TWD makes a GREAT point

seems to me that KETRON is the one doing BEST out of ALL others, by a LANDSLIDE,

i mean 6 mil with about 30 employees

you do the math

or maybe my 4 years of calculus was not enough...

keybplayer,
how does Yamaha leave all in the dust, you see you many employees they have?
they may leave some in the dust with their fast motorcycles...

The problem with the small arranger manufacturers is mostly that they gambled heavily on the TOTL area of the market, never expecting the dire economic situation we are in, now (although the writing was on the wall for YEARS). Let's face it, if Ketron had leverage their loop technology to a product that competed with Yamaha's S910, they would be in a FAR healthier position than they are now. But they gambled that the rich would keep getting richer, and lost bigtime...

And, lest we think this is JUST Ketron, there is no doubt that without the PSR line to subsidize it, the Yamaha T3 is also an albatross around their necks. As is, to be honest, the entire TOTL arranger market, right now.

These are TINY industries. The gross from ONE Wal-Mart superstore is greater than the entire keyboard industry. Think about that

YES TWD,

That’s why Ketron can't get things done only in light years, one man and a dog can turn over £1M on Ebay. More money per head just shows they are greedy and owners are taking more out of the company exploiting the employee. There is more than one way to kill a pig TWD, you need that degree in Management TWD, music and the Hammond won't help you here! You need to look much deeper than TO per capita. For example, just take Ketron manuals I reckon at Ketron the cleaner writes them up, remember what you said about the cleaner, in fact if I pull your text you named all the 21 at Ketron.

Tony

Tony, Do know these people? Do you know how much they get paid? Do you know how much is re-invested into the company? Do you know how much is invested into new technology?

No TWD I don't have any names the cleaner or drummer, but what I do know is every worker earns Ketron £285,000:00 each per year, that's not take home pay, I wish I had a comapany like that, and if I had a company like that I would treat my customers differently, wouldn't you or would you rip them off too.