Originally Posted By: rosetree
Roland is just making the first steps out of a life-threatening crisis, connected with the 2008 banking crisis and a number of desastrous failures in sales from Fantom G to the Jupiters. Several years in a row without profit.
Roland Europe had their last failure (in terms of sales and marketing) with the BK-9 in 2013, shortly before it was closed down by the parent company.
Then, as a next dramatic step, there was a management buyout.
So there were enough reasons to be sceptical whether Roland would continue their arranger division at all, and it is a pleasant surprise they have not abandoned it. It's logical they focus on the Asian market, you can read in their business reports that arranger sales were satisfactory there and desastrous elsewhere. I hope they will recover to the point where they can develop high-grade workstations or arrangers again, but it will probably take time.


The management buyout and the new management however is what will safe them in the end (hopefully)

So far the Aira range is a huge success
The RD 800 goes strongs a s a stage piano
The new LX and hp piano ranges sell great
The jdxi and jdxa are a mixed bag of beans
We have to see how the new arranger will handle itselves

Seems however that non yamaha arrangers only sell big time in asia and the middle east and eastern europe... In our western world, Yamaha seems to make like 80% of the total arranger sales.

But it looks like aroland is back to the core, creating instruments that are fun to play


Edited by Bachus (09/05/15 02:48 PM)
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