It really comes to something when a brand as iconic as Gibson Guitars cant stay afloat!

@roberjerman "Why buy a high-priced US Gibson when an Asian-made Epiphone offers comparable quality at a fraction of the price!"

You do know Epiphone is part of Gibson, yes?

The ability to play in the affordable space didn't save them from this.

Gibson also owns Esoteric, TEAC, Onkyo, Pioneer, Cerwin Vega, Stanton, and some others, which means our niche will see some impact from this

@jond "Did anyone read the article I linked?"

Yes, I read it when it came out last year.  Makes a lot of sense, as culture evolves, where people spend their time, focus, talents, and money shifts.

The consumer electronics elements of Gibson pulling the company downward likewise makes sense.  The shift from both Japan to China and to a different sort (web-centric) of product has turned the market on its head.  This seems like the same road as Oppo.

I remember when I worked as an R&D chemist / materials science engineer.  Obviously, I went about constantly seeking out and acquiring all manner of chemicals.  Initially, it came as a shock when I used to make inquiries, the questions centered around our anticipated needs, with the quantities they dealt in being things like rail cars.  For me, a kilogram, gallon, or bag would usually wind up something I'd soon need to dispose of, and oftentimes, the sample quantities they sent out for free were 100 pounds or a 55 gallon drum.

While we feel disappointed in Oppo getting out of the disc business, our sad reality remains minuscule number of high-end audio consumers cannot justify the R&D, tooling, production, transportation, and marketing / sales costs involved