Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Why are Kawai VPC1/MP11SE prices so high in the US vs UK?

I assumed that each 'sound' is considered as 1 'note' in the default settings. And also assumed that default settings sounds for general piano sounds aren't 'layered'.

But ... on the other hand ... if the default sounds are actually layered ..... such as 2 layers, then it's likely that the polynumber would be 2 layers per note.

Will be nice to find out for sure what the actual arrangement is.

This is simple the US way dealers work:

In Europe and in the UK if lead times are starting to extend we wait.

In the US prices are only regulated by demand dealers are raising prices as they like instead.

It is not only with electronics.

Galuwen

@Galuwen, Kawai raised the prices, not the dealers. But Roland and Yamaha didn’t (at least in the US digital market).

I watched a video last night by Stu over at Merriam Pianos in Canada and he was talking about the delays and their causes (basically, demand is up and supply is broken). The thing I found somewhat curious was that the entire industry, across the board, acoustic and digital, high-end to entry-level, demand has been up 10-50% since the pandemic started. It seems like a dirty thing to raise prices 25% when your business is going gangbusters. Obviously, the last two years have been crazy but if they’re selling them fast than they are producing them it seems like it is greed driving the price hike and not supply/demand.

Wow, I just looked at the going price of the VPC1. Glad I picked up last year when it was like 1800 new. I'm in the US. It took like 6 months to arrive, but looking at the price now, I'd take the wait.
Is nothing being hit by inflation? Doesn't matter if it's milk, grass seed, or a digital keyboard.

I was so set on getting the MP11SE When they came back in stock. I was shocked to find the price went up to $3499. That’s insane.

But if their production capacity is way down due to shortages, illnesses, and government health regulations then so is their cash flow needed to keep the company(s) viable. Companies can only stay in business for so long after their income drops but their fixed costs are still happening. One way to ride it out is to raise prices.

Ray

That is a fair point, without knowing and given company’s specific balance sheet I suppose it’s hard to say. Perhaps I was a little hasty. That said, The MP 11 has basically been nonexistent for the last two years and anyone who has wanted one has not been able to get it. So now that they are starting to trickle back in stock they’ve gone up 25%. So they’ve gone from a good value to overpriced.

If that’s what Kawai needs to do to survive, I guess it’s a good move, but it certainly isn’t earning them any goodwill in the marketplace especially knowing that the price hikes were only in certain markets and not in others.

My thoughts are:

Kawai has determined that they can get away with it in the affluent US market.

These are not normal times, those in which Kawai is producing massive numbers of pianos, and they have to sell them in order to survive. Rather, they are making fewer pianos, and thus need fewer buyers to optimize sales to the ideal level. That ideal level of sales is equal to whatever number constitutes: 100% of what they manufacture. They don't need to sell more, as, they don't have more. They don't need to sell less, as, that would leave them with unsold inventory, and, consequently, financial losses.

So, how do they maximize profit while selling only the number of pianos they can currently produce?

Well, within every segment of the population, including the segment of digital piano buyers, the amount of money the buyers are willing to spend for said piano varies from buyer to buyer. If you graphed the number of buyers and the amounts they each were willing to spend, you would end up with a curve/slope that graphically illustrates how many potential buyers exist at any given price point.

To maximize profit, Kawai's task is simple, Find the point on the graph where the number of buyers equals the number of pianos Kawai has available for sale. The price level indicated at this point is the price that will bring the greatest profit. Since fewer sales are now required for maximum profit (since fewer pianos are available to be sold), Kawai has chosen to raise prices to the level that those buyers at the upper end of the "willingness to pay" graph are willing to pay. Right now, with inventory low, Kawai does not need the full range of buyers. It only needs enough buyers to purchase available production.

Since selling their limited supply of pianos to buyers higher up on the "willing to pay" graph brings in more money than does selling that same limited supply of pianos to buyers on the low end of the "willing to pay" graph, they have raised their prices to achieve the goal of selling their limited piano supply to those willing to pay more.

that's a short term fix, they may lose significant market share and mindshare. short term cash flow, long term contraction.

Yeah, that’s exactly it. It’s kind of a risky strategy unless it’s a necessity because they won’t survive without it.

They certainly run the risk of alienating customers. I know their reputation in my mind has taken a hit because of it. Like I said above, it isn’t $700 better than the RD 2000. At its current price, it’s just 500 under the Fantom 88 which does everything. Obviously, I recognize these are different machines for slightly different purposes, but you get what I mean anyway. In the US market they positioned themselves way higher than the rest of their competitors. Heck, the Studiologic Numa X Piano GT is a full $1500 less. And it’s brand new to market, not five years old.

The funny thing is, if it came out that this was absolutely necessary for Kawai to stay in business, I would have a different opinion about it. I want Kawai to stay in business and to be successful. Then it could almost be a rallying cry to Kawai fans. But I have a hard time believing that’s the case as the increase was only in the US market.

Most of the motive speculation is just that.
I think when the chip shortage is over, we'll see things change. I believe there maybe 1 year more of this malaise and then things should kick off.