I sent a msg to this reflector prior to the first K3 sold that it would "become the IC-706 of the new age".... u had to be a post or
a stone not to see that demand would be HUGE and immediate and long lasting. I think E could have sold 3,000 in the first month if shipping was upon immediate purchase. 73 Charles Harpole [EMAIL PROTECTED] > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Elecraft Honchos!!! > Date: Wed, 21 May 2008 14:05:34 -0700 > CC: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net > > Folks, I am sure we all wish that supply at Elecraft was conveniently equal > to demand. Order a K3 today, and have it by the end of the week or so. > Clearly that isn't the case. I don't profess to know just how sophisticated > Elecraft's market analysis is, but I'm relatively sure they aren't doing any > exotic market surveys either. They are a small company with a big product! > Also, I have no idea how they are evaluating just how much they can/will > ramp up production. Doing so is expensive for one thing. It also adds > greater complexity to the organization, particularly if that includes adding > staff. I'm reasonably sure they don't want to increase staff only to reduce > staff later. Some of that may be necessary, but it gets very sticky making > those kinds of moves. Training new employees to get them up to an > acceptable level of productivity, and then dropping them later, really > hammers the bottom line. > > Personally, I would have expected the wait time to have decreased more than > it has. But it hasn't gone down as much as I thought it would, and that > suggests to me that K3 demand remains relatively strong--even 1 year later. > I can only assume that it has surprised Wayne and Eric a bit too. Although > all of us can fuss and complain about the wait time, it's really their > product, and they are presumably doing what they think is right. Whether > they are dealing with it correctly or not, it's their decision, not ours. > So we just need to grin and bear it. That doesn't mean that allowing the > "wheel to squeek" a bit won't encourage some positive response from them, > but generally I think there will only be limited success in doing so. > > I think the best thing to do is to try and view all of this positively. By > proceeding on a "conservative" path, Elecraft is hopefully minimizing > screw-ups, not to mention protecting the company's viability. The longer > they can sustain strong demand, the longer you have assurance that they will > be around to help you keep their products running. Dealing with smaller > companies can be somewhat risky. If they run out of demand, or ideas, or > both, they tend to disappear. You don't have to think very long to come up > with a bunch of names of companies like this who met an abrupt demise. > > If you don't like that suggestion, consider this one. I think the strong > demand for the K3 would have easily enabled Elecraft to raise prices even > more than they did. That would have probably have helped lower demand > closer to supply, and they could later offer some "blue light" specials to > prop up demand when it started waning. But they didn't do that--yet! So, > even though I'm a bit frustrated about some things just like most of you > are, I think I'll keep my complaints muzzled a bit. Besides, few if any of > us have all the facts anyway. We have no idea what all the issues are that > Elecraft is dealing with. We are all just a bunch of "sidewalk > superintendents", and what we think should be simple may well be just the > opposite. In truth, I think a lot of our frustration is enhanced by the > knowledge that the K3 is a great product with superior product support. We > want it! Now! We don't want to go for the closest alternative. We just > don't like dilemmas. > > Dave W7AQK > > _______________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net > You must be a subscriber to post to the list. > Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): > http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm > Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
