European prices and release dates from Musikmesse???

EvilDragon · Post by **EvilDragon** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 9:22 pm

1 LFO on that abomination. 1 LFO!

jimknopf · Post by **jimknopf** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 11:27 pm

The price and availability thing is looking more and more embarrasing.

At Musikmesse, ANY concrete news concerning both seem to be strictly avoided by Korg, instead of finally clarified. A very bad sign...

Looks like we can forget about the Kronos for quite a while to come, until it finally will be delivered. Autumn is sounding more realistic than summer meanwhile, and even that doesn't seem to be sure, evaluating the deafening silence, with Korg not even naming problems and new release targets.

Kevin Nolan · Post by **Kevin Nolan** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 11:48 pm

Agreed. This not looking good at all.

Kevin.

T7 · Post by T7 » Thu Apr 07, 2011 12:16 am

I don't speak German, perhaps pricing and ship date are mentioned in this Messe video?: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9WDZzqVnKU

michelkeijzers · Post by **michelkeijzers** » Thu Apr 07, 2011 12:57 am

T7 wrote:I don't speak German, perhaps pricing and ship date are mentioned in this Messe video?: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9WDZzqVnKU

My german is limited, and skipped a bit of the middle part, but no word of price or availability.

OboKeyDrum · Post by **OboKeyDrum** » Thu Apr 07, 2011 3:38 am

Actually, Andreas Gundlach is asked about price and availability, though for neither of them there is a definite answer. When asked about availability, he refers to current events in Japan. When asked about price, we answers something like 'It's as expensive as good workstations are.' - 'That means about 3000€?' - 'Something like that for the 61 key version, 88 will be more expensive.'

StephenKay · Post by **StephenKay** » Thu Apr 07, 2011 4:40 am

michelkeijzers wrote:For the netherlands just looked up: Bax shop: kronos 61to 88: prices unknown yet, expected delivery date in 13 weeks.

It may be that they are holding off on announcing prices because of the extreme volatility in the exchange rate right now with the Japan disaster. The yen has gone from 80 to 85 to the dollar in just a few weeks; no one knows where this is heading. Korg Japan sets prices to the distributors based somewhat on the yen exchange rate; if they are not even going to be selling them for a couple of months, it may make sense for them to hold off until closer to the delivery date, when they can see what the yen rate is at that time. (BTW, if the yen keeps getting weaker, that would possibly make prices *lower* for the Kronos. Of course, Korg wants to make money, but they also don't want to price the thing out of the market. Being able to lower the price might open up more of the market.) Just speculating.... Of course, one would think that reasoning would apply to announcing US prices as well...

RKfan · Post by **RKfan** » Thu Apr 07, 2011 7:11 am

Korg Japan sets prices to the distributors based somewhat on the yen exchange rate; if they are not even going to be selling them for a couple of months, it may make sense for them to hold off until closer to the delivery date, when they can see what the yen rate is at that time.

You heard it here guys - no Kronos for a couple of months (so June or July).... Might as well hibernate till then, cos nothing interesting is going to happen.

Just one thing I don't understand.... Why doesn't someone from Korg actually say this?

StephenKay · Post by **StephenKay** » Thu Apr 07, 2011 8:23 am

RKfan wrote:
Korg Japan sets prices to the distributors based somewhat on the yen exchange rate; if they are not even going to be selling them for a couple of months, it may make sense for them to hold off until closer to the delivery date, when they can see what the yen rate is at that time.
You heard it here guys - no Kronos for a couple of months (so June or July).... Might as well hibernate till then, cos nothing interesting is going to happen.

Just one thing I don't understand.... Why doesn't someone from Korg actually say this?

Let me clear something up: I said "if they are not even going to be selling them for a couple of months" based on this:

michelkeijzers wrote:For the netherlands just looked up: Bax shop: kronos 61to 88: prices unknown yet, expected delivery date in 13 weeks.

13 weeks = a couple of months

I have no "insider information" about when deliveries will be made, I was merely extrapolating based on what this music store said.

You're going to get me into trouble with Korg.

I merely wanted to point out my speculation about the reason why prices might not be yet declared (yen exchange rate). The exchange rate being a subject that is near and dear to my heart, and which I am constantly watching. Anyway, I'll go back to lurking now...

jimknopf · Post by **jimknopf** » Thu Apr 07, 2011 8:47 am

Stephen, no, we will NOT get you into trouble with Korg.

I just think, if there are problems leading to uncertainty and delays, they should be named.

As you said yourself, the exchange uncertainty counts for both US and Europe.
And if they finally had named European prices, and added that they might need slight adjustments BOTH in US and Europe, I guess most people would show some understanding. Same counts for possible delays due to the economic situation in Japan. Just clarifying, if they got problems with parts from other companies for production or not, and how they roughly estimate the situation, would help.

As it is now, US ciisens have both fixed prices and running orders, while Europeans haven't anything. Are Europenas in the end supposed to pay the bill for fixed American prices against changing yen rates??? I hope not.

Japanese culture is said to have a high sensivity for forms of behaving polite. I don't know if that is just a cultural cliche. But I can tell one thing for sure:
Treating people as kind of second rate economy and giving them the impression that they aren't even worth being informed and rather ignored, is both something which is not at all appreciated here, in an economically and culturally highly developed region like Europe, and I think we have quite a memory for this kind of impolite relation.

Kevin Nolan · Post by **Kevin Nolan** » Thu Apr 07, 2011 9:06 am

Hi Stephen -

Thanks for your thoughts, which are all quite plausible. We promise not to get you into trouble!!!

While there seems to be confusing messages from Korg; we can also see momentum gathering in the Korg USA web site w.r.t Kronos so it certainly doesn't look that things are in an indeterminate state. But some clarity by Korg (or a real release) would be very welcome at this (confusing) juncture.

by and large people are patient - when they know the time frames involved.

Kevin.

RKfan · Post by **RKfan** » Thu Apr 07, 2011 1:39 pm

danatkorg wrote:
Reggmail wrote:

On another note, at first I heard that the Kronos would be shipping some time in March then May 5 or June.

People say all sorts of things, don't they?

What we'd originally told people was April for first units in stores, with some regions a month later (May). Now it looks more like May, with some regions a month later (June). This is unrelated to the earthquake.

Best regards,

Dan

Thank you very much for that clarification Dan, your the man
Peace & blessings.

This was on another thread - Korg saying May/June - and not earthquake related.

GregC · Post by **GregC** » Thu Apr 07, 2011 3:06 pm

jimknopf wrote:Stephen, no, we will NOT get you into trouble with Korg.

I just think, if there are problems leading to uncertainty and delays, they should be named.

As you said yourself, the exchange uncertainty counts for both US and Europe.
And if they finally had named European prices, and added that they might need slight adjustments BOTH in US and Europe, I guess most people would show some understanding. Same counts for possible delays due to the economic situation in Japan. Just clarifying, if they got problems with parts from other companies for production or not, and how they roughly estimate the situation, would help.

As it is now, US ciisens have both fixed prices and running orders, while Europeans haven't anything. Are Europenas in the end supposed to pay the bill for fixed American prices against changing yen rates??? I hope not.

Japanese culture is said to have a high sensivity for forms of behaving polite. I don't know if that is just a cultural cliche. But I can tell one thing for sure:
Treating people as kind of second rate economy and giving them the impression that they aren't even worth being informed and rather ignored, is both something which is not at all appreciated here, in an economically and culturally highly developed region like Europe, and I think we have quite a memory for this kind of impolite relation.

IMO, the American markets and Euro market are quite different.
FYI, I worked for Sony for 9 years.

Plus I would not expect a parent co, with HQ overseas, to provide
specific answers you pose here ( musicmesse, etc). We are the end user
or the ultimate customer.

If I were you, you should have a discussion with your Korg country
distributor. They and your local retail channel have a stake in this & its their job to communicate effectively to you. (and us end user/customers).

This is the way these organizations are organized.

dokido · Post by **dokido** » Thu Apr 07, 2011 4:15 pm

they didnt even know about kronos...

jimknopf · Post by **jimknopf** » Thu Apr 07, 2011 4:39 pm

Greg,

this is a silly game I have been watching since years.

Japanese music companies have only one partner they take serious: that's their US team, normally responsible for the whole worldwide marketing after production, and often also the most influential people for concept and feedback. They are often nice guys, but you are right that it is not their task to care about Europe. It's a genuine Japanese task to do that!

But: According to my experience, feedback to a local musical instrument representative of a Japanese company, any local feedback, even happening in a country like Germany or France, with high economic power, is about as relevant to Japanese managements as "a rice bag tumbling down anywhere in China", as a German saying goes. I could tell you some anecdotes, including confidential experiences of local reps of various Japanese companies, about this strange phenomenon. This kind of information politics, and in general treating European partners like thin air, is something which I personally won't swallow any longer under any conditions.

However much I like the Kronos, I'm really getting annoyed meanwhile.
Give me two more weeks of being treated like that, and you can bet that I will buy ANY alternative available, but no longer stand in a row of Europeans being treated like idiots or havenots. This world is full of alternatives, and if someone doesn't want me as a customer, I just buy something else from someone else.

We are not amused ...