Normally the product cycle of Yamaha was 3 years, now it only is 2 years...

It can mean two things, Yamaha has started developing their next Gen Arranger and has released a keyboard containing all possible upgrades they could give the Tyros line

Or, soon there is another brand comming with a new keyboard that outperforms their T4 in almost any way possible. And now they are trying to lure customers intoo buying their product before they get a chance to realise that something better is soon comming out.

At this rate buying used ever release is the way to go.

Bachus,
Maybe both.
Korg will IMHO come with DYNAMITE soon.
Yes, I have a little inside info I can not share.

Lee S.

Jim,

A product cycle of two years isn't anything new for Yamaha, and other manufacturers changed their cycles as well.

The PSR-7000 (1995) was only two years the junior of the PSR-8000 (1997)...the CVP series used a two year cycle from 1991 to 1997, for example.

Perhaps you could investigate what was happening with the competitors at those times, and maybe there may be a reason.

Ian

I don't believe Yamaha pays any attention at all to the competitors. They do their own thing and it has always worked for them.
DonM

With technology changing faster than ever, why wait longer to release it. I can't wait to get my Tyros4. Many disagree here, but I think all the improvements over Tyros3 (I have one.) it's the right time for Yamaha to release the new model. If this starts a new 2 year pattern, then all the better. Those who aren't interested in Tyros4 might only have to wait 2 more years for the next offering. -charley

You just did!!!
Now we know we are pregnant and expecting!
What about delivery time? What does the doctor estimates?

Any company still in business has always 'done their own thing and it has always worked for them', I'm afraid. Nothing unique to Yamaha for doing this...

But the drop in product cycle time has GOT to have a reason. Personally, from a marketing standpoint, I feel that the most likely explanation is less than expected sales of the T3...

I certainly remember a MUCH greater sense of excitement and 'wow factor', and a lot more purchases, proud user demos, and just general level of excitement on this forum when the T2 was released, but the T3 seemed somewhat subdued by comparison. Perhaps not quite a big enough leap over the previous T to generate the excitement that the T2 had done...?

As little as Yamaha had to do physically to the T3 case, and the remainder of the improvements being primarily software, it seems to make sense for Yamaha to try and up their product cycle to bring out the T4, and maybe recapture the 'wow!' that the T2 had, and somehow the T3 failed to generate. That doesn't mean the T3 was a failed instrument (before Ian's head explodes!), but user response is user response, and I don't think anyone unbiased would argue that the T2 generated a LOT more excitement than the T3.

I simply hope that Yamaha don't drop into a regular two year cycle... I simply don't see the market as able to absorb that. Part of the value you get from any purchase is how many years you get out of it before it is obsolete, and reducing that window by a whole year changes the equation quite significantly. Even if you are skipping generations, you will have gone from six years to four, a 33% reduction in value. Pretty significant, IMO...

Yamaha haven't used this level of cycle for 15 years or more. If everything that Yamaha does is good, it is hard to find an explanation for them changing what they do. Either it's good now, or it was good then, but it can't be BOTH!

I simply feel bad for those that bought a T3 recently, watching the value of their purchase plummet through no fault of their own. I hope that the other manufacturers don't start to follow this trend...

Well, if you go by your survey of how many Tyros3's were sold, it might possibly be easy to say that's the reason...

I sold more Tyros3's than Tyros2's and had less time to sell them, so it's fair to say, at least in my area, that the former was quite successful.

My most successful PSR was the PSR-3000, followed very closely by the new S910...did two clinics last week.

Looking back on Yamaha's product history, two year cycles appear more often than three, in regards to TOTL arrangers, and for CVP-series piano based arrangers..

Here is the History of Products. http://www.yamaha.co.jp/manual/english/chron.php

Check it out for yourself, and see what you can come up with.

Ian

Ian,
What are these Clinics? We have nothing here they call that...is it marketing, music lessons, how to??
Lee S.