From vsedm@iMars.com Thu Feb 28 12:46:55 2002
Subject:Re: official New B-3 page..

Mark,

>Let's get back to square one in this thread - The New B3 is going to retail
>for approx. $25k. Expensive? Hell yes. Overpriced? I don't know... The
>facts are that Hammond Suzuki has spent close to 8 years on this project.
>That's a lot of R & D money. The results? They nailed it. It's a
>BEAUTIFUL product. What's their marketing plan? Initially, it's going to
>be the home/church market. I guess that their immediate sales goals will be
>less than 200 units worldwide. I'm sure that some discussion has or will
>happen on a pro model, but nothing has been divulged on this subject yet.

[Being in marketing, you must know that there are two way to introduce a
product in a market.. but
here's a quick resume of my last mid term marketin exam that had this exact
question..!!]

Either you aim for penetration: low price, preventing any competition and
getting an important market share
The other one, is "milking" (my own traduction, as we use "ecremage"). In
that case, you set a high price
for early adopters, then, lower your price to get the early majority while
the product is in its growth phase..

This strategy was seen in the introduction of DVD players, when they had to
cover high R&D fees... I believe
that it is the same happening here...

As to wether or not they will go to the proline... that's another thing..
Mark, are they still producing the XB-3A? Could
it become the "mass-market" product, while the New B-3 gets the important
sales..?

Regards,

Etienne