[ICOM] IC-7600 at Tokyo Hamfair 2008

[Edward Dickinson, III]

Mel, you may be right.  My assumption was that the upper part of the Icom
line was being overhauled starting from the IC-7800 and working down.

I could be that the IC-756PIII basics stay intact and it gets outfitted with
the new display and related features.  

Perhaps Adam can shed some light on the architecture of the IC-7600. 

It's a good thought that there could be an IC-7500.


Regards,
Dick - KA5KKT

-----Original Message-----
From: icom-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:icom-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On
Behalf Of Mel Martin
Sent: Thursday, August 28, 2008 8:00 AM
To: icom at mailman.qth.net
Subject: RE: [ICOM] IC-7600 at Tokyo Hamfair 2008

Small increases in performance are expensive when you are trying to improve
on the 756 ProIII.

I'm pretty sure that the the 7600 is an updated 756PIII not a downgraded
7700 and will replace it eventually. The 7800/7700 try to be as good as Icom
can make them, and small increments in performance start to get expensive.
If you are content with 95% performance (good enough for virtually all of
us) costs can be quite a bit lower. Take, for example, the digital
preselector... not useful except in rare circumstances, but expensive to
implement. Check the pricing on the Yaesu preselector modules!

The ProIII may stay in the lineup for a while because the price is
artificially low. Icom has recouped the development and startup costs... 
and although the price hasn't changed much in $, it's actually dropped
significantly in terms of the Yen. The 7600 will allow Icom to re-price
their mid-level offering and at the same time eke out a bit more revenue
from the ProIII which right now is a bargain for the performance level.

I would guess at about $3.5k since that would be the price point that Icom
would be aiming at thought they might start a bit higher. As production cost
fall and startup costs are amortized over the next few years it may start to
fall to the point it will completely replace the ProIII.

BTW, they seemed to have left room for an eventual IC-7500 at the 2.5K price
point...

Re:  $4k speculation...
 >
 > With the IC-7700 streeting at ~$7,000 does the IC-7600 look  > like
enough of a downgrade of the architecture to warrant a  > street price as
low as $4,000?
----
Your Moderator: Dick Flanagan K7VC: icom-owner at mailman.qth.net Icom Users
Net: Sundays, 1700Z, 14.316 MHz Icom FAQ: http://www.qsl.net/icom/