How many O's have been sold world wide?

kenackr · Post by **kenackr** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 8:28 pm

How many Oasys's (sum total of both types) have been sold worldwide, does anyone know?

Ken

MartinHines · Post by **MartinHines** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 8:39 pm

Only Korg Japan knows, and MI manufacturers usually don't release sales volume figures.

The best "guestimate" anyone has is based on the Karma Lab "OASYS owner thread":
http://www.karma-lab.com/forum/showthre ... eadid=6456

The information in that thread shows that AT LEAST 2,027 OASYS 88s have been manufactured and at least 1,168 OASY 76s.

The problem with those numbers are:
-- there are obviously a large number of OASYS owners who are unaware of that thread and/or have never submitted their information
-- For those numbers to be valid, the highest number posted (e.g. OASYS 88 S/N 2027) would have to be last OASYS 88 that was manufactured

The only conclusion one can really make is OASYS volumes are in the thousands, as opposed to keyboards with lower price tags which have probably sold in the 10s of thousands (i.e. Tritons, Motifs, Fantoms).

The key from my perspective is it appears the OASYS has sold in sufficient volumes for it to be a profitable venture for Korg, even though it is a low-volume keyboard.

Post by **Sharp** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 9:10 pm

The key from my perspective is it appears the OASYS has sold in sufficient volumes for it to be a profitable venture for Korg, even though it is a low-volume keyboard.

And from my perspective this is also KORG showing a right index finger to all the other keyboard manufactures reminding them of who invented the Workstation in the first place. !!!!!

Regards.
Sharp.

Daz · Post by **Daz** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 11:17 pm

I wouldn't be surprised if Korg have sold more Oasys'es than they expected, but it's a been a kind of 'slow burner'. My company sells a high value + low volume product and the sales take longer to make and get people to commit to. The same is possibly true of the Oasys, when choosing to buy one we didn't just buy a synth but really made quite a commitment, and it takes some time and pondering before wading in. That's really evident in the degree of interest, passion and "heartfelt feedback" we see here from people that have bought it.

Daz.

kenackr · Post by **kenackr** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 1:25 am

Martin,

You are an incredible fountain of knowledge. Thanks!

I, for one, didn't know about that thread, therefore I'm not on it. My number, however, is 1509, so there's no boost there.

Sharp,
I understand your sentiment, but who knows for sure other than "Mr Korg"?

Daz,
I agree totally about the passion. It took me awhile to think about it and decide to "afford" the O.

As an original owner of an earlier Korg flag ship (the T1) purchased new in 1990 that I still love and play, my passion runneth over with the addition of the O.

It's far cheaper than supporting a high maintenance woman!

Ken

nitecrawler · Post by **nitecrawler** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 4:58 am

"Its far cheaper than supporting a high maintenance woman"

Boy that is certainly the truth! Actually, I think I spent more for my Mini-Moog in 1977 dollars (about $1800.00 US) than I did for my very slightly used Oasys 76 in 2007 dollars. When you take into consideration inflation.
Money well spent in my opinion.

Regards,

Nitecrawler

Mike Conway · Post by **Mike Conway** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 7:18 am

Ken, you have a point!

Daz wrote:That's really evident in the degree of interest, passion and "heartfelt feedback" we see here from people that have bought it.

To prove Daz' point, go to the forum index. The OASYS forum has more Posts/Topics than any other category. More than Off-Topic or any Triton forum! As you know, the Triton series sold in a 6 figure range.

Now, look at the OASYS, at around 3,000+ units (guessing again), yet has generated more conversation than any synth I can think of.........ever. What this represents, not just for Korg, but for composer/synthesists, is something you can't put a number on. Think about it.

kenackr · Post by **kenackr** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 5:01 pm

Nitecrawler,

I know what you mean. I paid $6500 for the T1 in 1990 and have a feeling that adjusted for inflation it would have been around the same as the O is today. I'm not letting go of either one until the Smithsonian prys them from my cold dead hands.

Mike,

I had never looked at the post figures, but you're right, that fact does make a compelling statement.

Ken

MartinHines · Post by **MartinHines** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 6:50 pm

Just to add some perspective on impact of price on sales, Karma Lab also has a Korg M3 Serial Number thread:
http://www.karma-lab.com/forum/showthre ... eadid=9492

The M3 has been shipping for six months (?) now, and Korg has manufactured AT LEAST:
-- 1,309 M3-Ms
-- 7,573 M3-61s
-- 1,767 M3-73s
-- 2,746 M3-88s
===========
13,304 M3 units

kenackr · Post by **kenackr** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 8:40 pm

Since we have a rather elite club, why don't we have a bar?

Ken

Kevin Nolan · Post by **Kevin Nolan** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 9:15 pm

OK - it's in 4/4 - I'll tap and you hum.

(Sorry - couldn't resist - in one those humours today. I'll ban myself from this forum for a while).