Economic mess affects organ sales

[arie v]

Hi,</p>

I just got thinking about what happens to organ sales when the economy goes into a tailspin.</p>

You Americans, can thank your lucky stars that you have a holiday today. You will probably need to take a valium tomorrow. Up here north of the border, I just heard that $250 billion in wealth has disappeared in the last week because of dropping stock values. (Toronto Stock Exchange)
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I have been in the organ business since 1980. In 1981 there was a steep recession. Organ sales declined, especially home/entertainment organs. A lot of companies disappeared. The church/classical market rebounded somewhat and did well in the late 80s, when real estate boomed. In 1990 there again was a recession, and organ sales declined. Sales recovered especially in the late 90s, in the dotcom boom. A lot of money ended up on the collection plates of churches. Many large electronic and pipe organs were contracted for. When the dotcom boom went bust, sales went down. Sales did come back somewhat, but of late have been going down again. I have heard that no electronic organ manufacturer is really profitable. Price seems to be very important, the European companies selling over in North America are not changing their prices to reflect changes in the Euro vs dollar rates. </p>

Allen is said to be the largest manufacturer of church organs. Total sales in 2006 (according to Music Trades magazine), was $24.5 million. That figure includes Allen Integrated Assemblies (assembly of electronic circuit boards on a sub=contract basis) and Allen Audio (Allen's sound systems for churches). My guess is that they do less than $20 million in organ sales. I have heard that their production in units is less than half of what they put out at their peak. I believe that in 2005 their output was approx. 1,000 units.</p>

Rodgers again according to Music Trades showed revenue of $20,775,000. It is hard to say what this figure means, as Rodgers is a subsidiary of Roland. In 2005, their output was said to be about 900 units. </p>

Johannus, the Dutch company was not listed. I understand that their output in terms of units of church/classical organs is higher than Allen and Rodgers combined. Many of their instruments are the small low priced models. </p>

On top of the marketplace pressures, there is a new headache for manufacturers - that of virtual PC based organ programs. Hundreds of these programs are now being sold every year. I'm sure manufacturers are not amused about this I'm sure.</p>

Generally when the economy goes down, the lag time to when it really affects electronic organ sales is 6 months. With pipe organ sales it is about 18 months. Some say the American economy has been at a standstill for about a year. My guess is that sales of these items has already slowed.</p>

So what to do. Cash in your falling stocks, go and buy an organ from your favourite organ company, and play some soothing organ music.</p>

Just Monday morning thoughts............</p>

AV
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[Clarion]

Re: Economic mess affects organ sales



And a good Monday mourning to you too, Arie! [:S]</P>


Friday was a (seemingly) great day for picking up some bargainsin the stock market. I was so proud ofmy efforts, that I only a mere three days ago wasstrutting my prowess. Thismourning; we're down $6,500.00!![:S]</P>


In all fairness:as retired old folk, we aren't at all dependent upon the stock market for our financial survival. It's just a place where we stuff a little un-needed left-over cash, primarily for it's entertainment value. No big deal!What goes down, generallycomes back up!</P>


Contrary to your hypothesis; instead of disuading me from buying a new organ, it actually encouraged me to buy a new organ. A simple comparision of how much I am loosing on the stock market without getting anything in return;purchasinga new organ somewhat of a no-brainer! And comparatively,abargain!</P>


[quote user="arie v"] On top of the marketplace pressures, there is a new headache for manufacturers - that of virtual PC based organ programs. Hundreds of these programs are now being sold every year. I'm sure manufacturers are not amused about this I'm sure. [/quote]</P>


Maybe I've missed something along theway, but as someone who is just a tadmore than merely computer-literate, afterpricing out the cost of those PC-based efforts, for something that after spending big bucks, might not even work when it is finished; for me, the purchase of acustom-made digital organ made a whole lot more sense!</P>