Korg Forums

jimknopf · Platinum Member Joined: 17 Jan 2011 Posts: 3374

GDP - gross domestic product

European Union: $14.9 trillion (2010 est.) / real growth rate 1.8% (2010 est.)
United States: $14.72 trillion (2010 est.) / real growth rate 2.7% (2010 est.)
China: $9.872 trillion (2010 est.) / real growth rate 10.3% (2010 est.)

Source:
(CIA world fact book)

I think the the times when the USA were dominating the world economy by a large margin are simply over. They still have the by far highest income per citizen, while many could ask how much of that is based on loan instead of real economic power.

What stirs the kind of discussion in here is the fact, that economically they still behave very dominant in certain key areas, while the rest of the world has growing problems to see good reasons for that degree of dominance.

Not to get me wrong:
The very last thing that will make me envious are gifts like a microsampler for US Korg customers by Korg. May they live happy and in peace with it.

What I challenge, though, is that Korg Japan, like many other companies, stays in the old bad habit of informing and delivering to US citizens first, naming schedules and prices, while being impertinent enough to have an equally powerful economy like Europe's wait for the same level of information and respect several months longer. This kind of behavior is completely intolerable from a European (and perhaps also Chinese) point of view, even though I know it has historical reasons.

This is the crucial point: in a common world a certain level of common treatment is a must, and you can't even hide behind total economic dominance as lame pretext any more.

danatkorg · Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 6:02 pm Post subject:

Several quick points:

* as long as it costs money to transport goods from one place to another, there will be regional promotions.

* as long as cost of doing business varies from one place to another (including business taxes, regulations, wages, rent or real estate cost etc.), there will be differences in prices.

* regional/national distributors buy product from the manufacturer (in this case Korg Inc. in Japan), and then sell to dealers, who sell to customers. Prices may vary all along the line, and the time at which prices are set will almost certainly vary as well.

* transport time, logistics, regional/national regulations, and other factors may all play a part in variations in release schedule from place to place. Even much larger companies (such as Apple, somewhere around 1,000 times bigger than Korg) have similar issues.

* regarding "equally powerful economy like Europe's wait for the same level of information and respect" - note that Italy had hands-on KRONOS demos in music stores starting a couple of weeks ago, while the USA is still waiting until next month. Most countries in Europe have their own Korg distributor - it's not quite a single market yet.
_________________
Dan Phillips
Manager of Product Development, Korg R&D
Personal website: www.danphillips.com
For technical support, please contact your Korg Distributor: http://www.korg.co.jp/English/Distributors/
Regretfully, I cannot offer technical support directly.
If you need to contact me for purposes other than technical support, please do not send PMs; instead, send email to dan@korgrd.com

GregC · Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 8:10 pm Post subject:

I think it dampens the fun when plain facts get in the way of an Internet conspiracy theory.
Smile

_________________
Kronos 88. MODX8
Achieve your musical dreams Smile

https://soundcloud.com/user-898236994

xmlguy · Platinum Member Joined: 26 Nov 2007 Posts: 3605

Here in NoCheapKeyboardistan, we offer a free Chinese AK-47 for every Kronos you buy, so that you can safely protect it on the donkey cart ride home to your village. Unfortunately, we still have the 400% RegimeGraftAndDealerMonopolyAddedTax for all electronics except lighted photographs of our beloved leader.

Hey, look, our first shipment of Kronos is on its way! Start saving up your goats and oxen for purchase.

Pepperpotty · Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 9:43 pm Post subject:

TheLeadingSaw · Joined: 30 Jan 2011 Posts: 42

I wouldn't hurry up and preorder the Kronos in the All Access Part just because you get a free MicroSampler. Yeah, it's a nice thing, but not something Kronos can't do, besides, I would really suggest spending an hour or two with the Kronos (any other keyboard, for that matter) before buying it.

Anyway, I hope that someone films those presentations, and that they got an 88 note Kronos for that.

jimknopf · Platinum Member Joined: 17 Jan 2011 Posts: 3374

xmlguy · Platinum Member Joined: 26 Nov 2007 Posts: 3605

danatkorg · Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 11:23 pm Post subject:

danatkorg · Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 11:37 pm Post subject:

In re timing, pricing, and availability differing depending on where you are - this really happens with most things. As one example, the German-built Smart Car wasn't available in the USA for a while, but I don't think that was a demonstration of disrespect for the USA...
_________________
Dan Phillips
Manager of Product Development, Korg R&D
Personal website: www.danphillips.com
For technical support, please contact your Korg Distributor: http://www.korg.co.jp/English/Distributors/
Regretfully, I cannot offer technical support directly.
If you need to contact me for purposes other than technical support, please do not send PMs; instead, send email to dan@korgrd.com

jimknopf · Platinum Member Joined: 17 Jan 2011 Posts: 3374

Dan, your detailed answer is much appreciated! And it contained some little surprises for me. For example, I wasn't aware, that any Kronos had made it's way to Germany.

One question still remaining unclear to me is the following:
If your Korg US management and the European Korg distributors had the same information from Korg at NAMM, that allowed US music stores (relying on Korg US) to accept orders at conrete prices, why can't a single European store name prices until Musikmesse in three weeks?

My concern is not to find someone I can call guilty for something I don't like. My concern is to understand what is going on there, and argue for a change.

Edit: PS: if it were only about a casual synth over the years, as with the smart car, I wouldn't care so much. But I've seen the same kind of ritual in many cases, especially in the music business, over the years, and not only from one company, and frankly, in connection with some price differences hardly explainable even with all the named factors (VAT, transport etc.), I'm not the only European 'native becoming restless'.

@xmlguy: ok yes, the "little ethnocentric humor" gave it away.
no offence taken, but some well earned feedback intended Wink