3) "No 76 because Yamaha is only interested in home market, not PRO market and 'MOST' home players seem to only want 61."
BINGO!! Lee hit the nail on the head! Yamaha is NOT interested in the PRO market and therefore they won't make 76 key (or 88 key) totl arrangers! The only thing I would amend in Lee's statement is that roughly 50% of Home and/or Studio players actually would really prefer
76 KEYS! over 61 keys. The Polls don't lie - 50% of the arranger market would prefer 76 keys (or 88 keys). But Yamaha has such a huge following (just look around and you'll see the vastness of "Yamatron's" bowing to their master i.e. - they would buy a T4 if it only had 25 keys no doubt
and because Yamaha's huge following the roughly 50% of the home market (who prefer 61 keys) Yamaha would still make buckets of money anyway i.e. on that roughly 50% alone apparently. They'll sell roughly a hundred Tyros4's to every 10 or so of Roland arrangers and/or Korg arrangers because Yamaha has this much bigger following and they end up selling tons more product than their competitors, needless to say. They're number one in size and sales by a long shot but they apparently don't have a need (or desire) to cater to the PRO, Home, and/or Studio market who prefer 76 or even 88 keys? Which is roughly HALF of the total arranger market as we know and as the Polls indicate.
Yamaha is "kissing off" roughly 50% of their potential revenue because they're apparently raking in enough "loot" selling 61 key arrangers to the "other" half of the market - i.e. grandma and grandpa in the home
- and they're too lazy??? or uninspired?? to reach the other half of the PRO, Home and Studio market. Which is their prerogative of course but it reeks of impropriety in my opinion.
So what it boils down to is Yamaha is quite "content" to overlook the PRO, Home, and/or Studio market who would prefer 76 keys (or 88 keys) and apparently their bottom line is not overtly affected because of it because of their already huge market share. So in other words, they will continue to make their 61 key totl arrangers - and to hell with everybody else.
That's a harsh way to put it but it seems to be correct in its observation and thereby hits the mark in intended use; but which I regret having to use that particular word to get my point across.
But will my, or others, continual haranguing of Yamaha to change their business model help at all in the end? Well, we've been harping on Yamaha to make a 76 key totl arranger for pert near a decade and obviously to no avail as we see even the Tyros4 is 61 key only - much to the chagrin of 50% of the arranger market.
Fifty percent of PRO, Home, and/or Studio players will simply have to look elsewhere for their PRO, Home, and/or Studio needs. Yamaha seems oblivious to our concerns and I recommend we start being 'oblivious' to Yamaha products and indeed look elsewhere for our keyboard, and our other musical needs. DO we really have any other choice?? Obviously not - thanks to Yamaha.
Yet they seem unfazed - and destined to mediocrity because of it. At least in their arranger line anyway. At least that's how I feel. But as we've come to find out Yamaha doesn't seem to really care about how you or I feel. Sad... very sad. >> Unfortunately it seems it's ALL about the MONEY to them. Again... sad, very sad... yet apparently... true, very true.
All the best,
Mike