I worked for a company a while back, which had plenty of money, and talent, who when they decided to pursue a certain new concept creating a product, would assign several separate teams to each independently create their own version of that product. Then there was an internal competition to pick the best between them. It was a difficult process, but did generate some startling new ideas.
Korg has at least three new product engineering teams ( probably more ), one in Japan, one in the US, and another startup in Deutschland.
We don’t really know what Tats Team has been doing. What if they assigned the task of making a great FM synth to them too. Maybe that team took the longer path to development, but now is ready with the winner ?
I called Sweetwater and spoke to a sales representative asking why the opsix was discontinued. The sales rep stated that it was due to supply issues with getting parts for the synth. I asked him if possible slow sales were a contributing factor and he said that wasn’t the issue. He stated securing parts are affecting a number of Korg products.
Yes, the decision to liquidate is still puzzling. There must be some people who can be contacted who know more info.
I played the opsix for the first time yesterday and my first impression is that it is an excellent, deep synth with a great sound and the best user interface for a FM synth I’ve used. This will probably become a FM collector’s item like the Yamaha FS1R.
This can happen all of a sudden because the banks all cut you off. This is a very bad sign, and usually doesn’t end well — you eat the seeds to grow new profit dumping inventory. And you’d think there would have been other signs rather than a bolt from the blue. Very sloppy bookkeeping could be another cause.
But you’d think Korg HQ would have a fair amount of cash in reserve, and you wouldn’t have to generate 2-3 million this way. They have been buying other companies and growing the corporation this year.
And you wouldn’t have to completely liquidate one product and discontinue it. So i kinda doubt this. But if this was what happened we will see more of it soon.
Not knowing specifics, I do know many manufacturers use the same warehouses and it’s been in the news that they’ve been filling up with unsold products.
I’m still guessing Korg either has some new products or just that they have other products that sell better and these Opsixes are hurting future plans.
I think there’s plenty more parts besides raspberry pi’s that are problematic to get at this moment. Raspberry pi itself is made from multiple elements. Supply chains are severed worldwide. Some manufacturers wait more than a year to get something. Smaller companies might even go bankrupt eventually. This autumn will be harsh.
Personally, I wouldn’t read too much into the dead displays. It might be within the normal amount. It’s quite possible that there is a percentage of sold synths that have hardware issues and end up being returned, which is why a lot of retailers allow that shortly after a purchase. It’s also possible that most people are simply receiving their synth in normal condition and not posting about it – I think people with hardware issues are more likely to be vocal.
