[Elecraft] Elecraft vs. Heath.

[Darwin, Keith]

Vic,

You've hit on a major factor in my recent decision to order a K3.  I
believe we are on the eve of a shift in the market.  I believe at $2000,
the K3 is really going to win a lot of hearts.  I wanted to get my order
on the books as late as possible before that flood hits.  I suspect
demand for the rig will be high.  I'm hoping there will be a bit of a
lag.  So far K3 sales have (I'm guessing here) largely been within the
family, to current Elecraft customers who are upgrading / supplementing.
But, once these rigs hit the air and people start winning contests with
them, and once ARRL tests them and gives them their "blessing", we'll
see demand go up.

I was going to wait for a while and order next spring or a year from now
after the initial flood subsides, but I'm not sure it will subside that
quickly.

One thing is for sure, it is exciting to be watching from *almost*
behind the scenes, as a new rig comes into being.  I can't WAIT to see
the QST review and to see how the K3 is received by the ham market.

Maybe in a couple of years we'll see a hostile takeover as Elecraft buys
Kenwood :-)

- Keith N1AS -
- K2 5411.ssb.100 -
- K3 Wave 3 -
 

-----Original Message-----
From: elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Vic K2VCO

Now with the K3 Elecraft has leveraged its two-way communication and the
exceptional ability of its developers to take direct aim at the big
boys. I suspect that they have been more or less taken by surprise. They
will be hurt.

The Japanese manufacturers are big players in the handheld market and in
non-amateur areas. They may react by scaling down in the HF ham market,
as Kenwood did. It's unfortunate that Tentec, which as far as I know
does not have a big non-ham business, will take a hit. But that's biz
biz.