The Economy.. will hi end audio mfgs lower prices?


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The state of California just laid off 20,000 employees. National unemployment is at a 30 year high.

Will there be a shake-out in high end audio? Will we continue to see $10k preamps and $30k amps?

According to the article below, prices of most consumer goods, especially big ticket consumer goods are going down.

....copy and paste it into your browser

http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/article/176714/American-Retail-Goods-On-Sale-Now----and-Forever?tickers=sks,%5Egspc,%5Edji,wmt,jwn,wfmi,cost
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mitch4t

Showing 2 responses by mrtennis

a manufacturer who sells components direct, exceeding say $5000, who do not rely upon the sales of their components for the bulk of their disposable income, will probably not lower prices or go out of business.

it is the dealers who will fail and possibly, over time., more products will be sold direct.

the demand for high priced audio gear is relatively inelastic.

don't expect lower prices. in some cases, the mark up is too small for a manufacturer to lower prices.
the demand for components in the $10,000 and up price category is probably not price sensitive. there would be no reason to lower prices.in addition, i would expect more manufacturers to go direct in order to increase their profit margin.