Sorry, but that's not a valid comparison. The T4-61 is $4999 in the US, so at current exchange rates that is £3122, so a retail price of £3217 is really damned good at only 3% more than the US price!
The US price for the K-61 is $2999 which is around £1875. A UK price of £2999 for a K-61 equates to $4800. That's an increase of 60%.
My calculations (albeit VERY rough and I did them a few weeks ago, so can't remember what I did!) got the price starting at about £2500 for the 61-note, raising for around £3K for the 73 and possibly £3.7k for the 88.....
If they can be sold in the US for $2999, then there's no real reason it shouldn't be possible to sell them for the equivalent over here plus the local VAT/Sales tax which should be nearer £2250 for the 61, £2650 for the 73 and £2850 for the 88 in the UK.
i wouldnt be surprised if that isnt about right.Uk taxation / retailer / shareholders margins MUST be met - its all very well wanting a fair price and around the us price but that wont happen , this is the uk.Land of the # inflated '
But is there any valid reason for charging UK residents more "just because they can"? I know the reality, but the facts are the only differential for imported goods sold in the US or the UK should be local sales tax and duty... other than that, all costs should be more-or-less the same as each territory has had to ship and import them from Japan.
DaveBoulden that is a great question one that every individual in the UK should be asking themselves and their officials. Some people over here raise a holy stink if something unfair is going on, heck over here we got nuts that raise hell if it doesn't suit their agenda! Well we just have to many nuts, and I don't mean the family jewel type!
I have been on the market for a new synth/workstation since the beginning of the year and was just about to purchase a DSI Prophet 08 when Korg announced the Kronos.
And now I have a problem... do I go for a great analogue machine or get my hands on this beast (I would be really happy with most of the 9 synth engines especially AL-1, Mod-7, MS20). There is only one thing that is confusing me and that is all the speculation over the price.
Most people on this forum (appologies in advance if I am mistaken) appear to be passively waiting to see what Korg in Europe/UK will announce. Sorry, but aren't we the customers? Can't we suggest to Korg what we are prepared to pay rather then speculate?
I have been comparing the prices of most top workstations (and other neat synths - the Origin keyboard is £2,499 in UK and $2,999 in the US) in the US and the UK and notice that the rough price premium charged between the US (Sweetwater) and the UK (Digital Village) is about 40%-45%. So we could speculate that approx RRPs for the Kronos will be around £2,600 for the 61 keys, £3,000 for the 73 and £3,300 for the 88 key model (assumes 42% UK standard synth rip-off - sorry differential and using today's $ to £ exchange rate).
But is this too much - how much would you be prepared to pay?
Personally I would like to see a reduction in these prices by about 10% before I would beleive that the game really has changed.