I may see things differently than others, but these are my personal thoughts. In 2008-2009 when the economy fell off the cliff, PRS went through some really lean years. Both employees and management dug deep, we worked hard and we kept our collective noses to the grindstone and we made a strong turn-around. Right now, PRS is in the middle of our best year ever. If sales continue to track in the same direction and our backorder remains strong, we will crush all previous sales years. This was a long, hard fought battle, but we stuck together and pulled through stronger, smarter and better than we were in the past.
The business model for retail has changed drastically. Most large retailers now have a strong online presence, so while foot traffic may be down at the store level, web sales continue to rise. PRS is a good position because people feel confident buying PRS gear online because they know PRS makes a solid product and that authorized dealers will treat them fairly.
Trends change, technology changes, times change. So we know we need to continue to build the best products possible, we know we need to respond to customer changing tastes and we know we can't rest on our laurels. But we aint dead yet
I'm appreciative that company employees can voice this kind of information. I've wondered if, and the article that started this thread insinuated that, PRS was having to adjust to a reduced TAM (total available market). While I'm still not certain that PRS is not just taking market share from the competitors and the TAM may still be getting smaller, I hope the TAM is at least constant if not getting larger. It seems true that the guitar playing public is getting older and the youth are moving to computerized music. But the population as a whole is also getting larger so the available number of people getting interested in all types of music should also be getting larger. "The economics of scale" seems to be helping out here. Hopefully PRS has a long and prosperous future.Right now, PRS is in the middle of our best year ever.
You're kill'in me.
I would think this was just the opposite because of the evolution of amps alone. Years ago you could only mostly buy 100 watt monsters that weren't good for the home users. Now with all the great low watt amps and all the digitial options available, a lot more people have access to be home rock stars without the wife, husband, kids, parents, and neighbors complaining. New guitar sales may be taking a hit because of the internet (forums, eBay, reverb, Craigslist) but the used market is screaming today.
What's a BUBBLE MACHINEIt is a musical instrument developed by a man known as Laurence Welk who drank lots of Geritol and listened to champagne music.