Yeah, interesting that they are bringing the two-panel architecture also to the Piano (and so, arguably, to the future Electros? They have always shared almost all features with the Piano and Stages). At first, when I saw the octave shift buttons so close to the keys I cringed, it looked like a sure recipe for disaster (switching octaves accidentally while playing). But then I saw it is a "shift" function, and the buttons primarily control the two panels ...which could be a different recipe for a different disaster
.
This puts the new pianos (and Electros, if they will share the two-panel structure) much much closer to the Stage. Hard to justify paying so much more for a Stage, when now even the "lesser" keyboards have so many features...maybe an indication that the Stage 4 will finally give us more panels, at least for the synth section?
Hlaalu wrote:To me the biggest reason for surprise isn't so much the marketing strategy... but the fact that yet ANOTHER piano is coming...
We have to accept that stage pianos are BY FAR the most lucrative segment of the market. Clavia is probably selling at least 20 pianos for every Lead/Wave that goes out of the warehouse...and probably 200 pianos for every drum or organ (when the C2D was even produced).
They are in the rather uncomfortable position of being a small-but-not-too-small company. If they were a boutique 2-3 person operation, they could probably do whatever they wanted without worrying too much about sales numbers...as long as they sold
something. But they are a 40-person operation in a high-cost country like Sweden, competing with the Big Guys in the most ferocious segment of the market. I think that most of the competing companies are either much larger or much smaller, and/or producing everything in China.
It's a testament to Nord's philosophy and quality that they're still in the business at all, but it's no surprise that at some point in their growth they had to decide to shift their core business from synths to a more mainstream, high-grossing segment (even trying to enter the home market with the wood stand and monitors, which I find some rather awkward products for their history).