genesys. Yes the market is very much fragmented. There are many different types of buyers

1. entry level keyboards predominantly for children aimed at parents with a smaller budget. Portability will be important to this market hence in the mainthey are 61 keys or less. size and weight is important to this nice.

2. There are piano arrangers aimed at piano students that cant afford a full size piano with a limited budget also . These tend to be 76-88 keys geared towards piano play. Portability is not the main concern as this tends to be used as a static instrument as in not gigged with. Used mainly for practise at home. size and weight is less crucial to this niche as there is a general acceptance of some compromise to get the number of keys.

3. There arrangers for the more experimental/performer/producer/songwriter with deeper editing and music making functions that are generally more expensive than the former aimed at a different demographic than the former 2. This buyer is likely to have more expendable income but will have a completely different purchase cycle. They are also likely to own more than one keyboard which might fit their piano /workstation needs more fully . They also tend to hold onto their instruments longer and dont 'upgrade every 2-3 years'

4. There are arrangers aimed at the mature market who want the top of the range functions just because they can afford it.They tend to be retired elderly pople who have no mortgage, no children at home and lots of leisure time .They will purchase every new top of the range or the next but one. They have lots of expendable income and tend to be home users in the main and are sensitive to the size and weight of the instrument.


There will be lots of cross over within the niches generally but these are the main segments of the market. But what is key is that yamaha have a product that meets EVERY SINGLE DEMOGRAPHIC.


ask yourself this :

What other manufacturer covers the ENTIRE arranger/piano with arranger functions market ??

Does Korg ? Ketron ? Roland ?? Casio

The answer is a resounding no. The reason is that yammaha have found a balance/product mix where they are attempting (and succeeding) to maximise their market share and profitability accross the range of arranger keyboards. They do this buy aiming their particular products at the various niche markets in the overall arranger market. Their most expensive arranger keyboard is aimed at the market niche that has the expendable income and generally upgrade everytime or every time but one to the next top of the line arranger. This particular niche market generally does not want or need 76 to 88 keys. If they want one yamaha offer one in their product range already. And for those with deeper pockets there is the CVP.

Heres the thing and i have mentioned this a number of times before. Yamaha is wary of cannabalising sales from their product range and so are very carelful about what features they offer in the numerous segments or niches of the market. Adding 76 keys to their top of the line arranger may gain more cutomers (or not) but it may also lose sales from their other 76 key instrumnets and worse, may alienate their already well developed well segmented sales from their existing customers who are size and weight sensitive.

Other manufacturers may wish to try and compete by offering 76 key arrangers and if yamaha saw a way to do that and could make the most profit from it (without cannabilising existing sales elsewhere) they ould do it. Its not an emotional issue for yamaha as it is for some of us. If it made good business sense , it would be done.