??? Are Manufacturers Killing Our Hobby ???

This thread smacks of trolling!!  How can having too many choices ever be a ba thing?  As others have said.  The free market will sort it out.   Manufacturers who adapt to the listening habits of the populace will still thrive.   Look how Focal and Sennheiser have begun manufacturing ear buds.  Manufacturers are building streamers into their DAC's.  The shrewd manufacturing entities will adapt and survive!!  Meanwhile, the consumer is being given plenty of choice.  I see no downside!!

I think it's near impossible to fully understand all the moving parts and motivations of all the entities.  People love to think they can analyze these things away but nobody knows all.  But can't we let people be themselves without criticizing every little thing?  I mean there are nested criticisms here.  lol  Which seems to usually be the case.  I like when people go out of bounds respectfully.  It's not the same ole and is mind expanding.  You never know what other's open thoughts are gonna give you ideas you would have never arrived at otherwise.  Not sure that works grammatically but there it is.  lol  Take Care Alll!

Hello Freediver, your query got my "research juices" flowing.  Primarily I had to ask myself, "Hmmm, just how many audio equipment manufacturers are there currently?  I went to a data source 9Boldthat I've used previously to get an estimate.  Here's what BoldData estimates currently. Worldwide there are (I've rounded their figures) approximately 48,600 audio equipment manufacturers.  China leads with 8,000 followed by India with 7400 and U.S. third at 5545.  These 3 countries hold 42% of the global market with total sales at about $16.3 billion.  Another source is "Mordor Intelligence" with forecasts total sales in this market to reach $23 billion by 2030.  Those figures would indicate that the apparent "proliferation" of manufacturers is not hurting the A.E market buy contributing to its growth.  Of course, there is a wide range of quality and price points produced within those 48,600 A.E manufacturers necessary to penetrate the diverse global customer base.  I was most enlightened after my brief research of this subject. Thanks for your question.

Enjoy the music.

Typo correction chalk it up to my all thumbs typing. Primary data source should read "BoldData" not "9Bold".  Opps, My bad

It doesn't bother me I like looking at new gear and like 98% of manufacturers don't really interest me anyway.