[Rainbow Randy]

I suppose I may as well ask if anyone has a crystal ball to look into, but might there be any indications (past incidents of similar economic conditions, or current trends) whether any major headphone makers are planning to stay competitive in price or if they're likely to respond to rising inflation and the falling dollar with raising retail prices?

I ask mostly because I'm considering whether or not to make a major headphone purchase (Denon D2000), and I most definitely am price sensitive. I think I'd like to make the purchase eventually, but I don't want to check back in a few months when I'm do better financially and find out the price jumped 20-50%.

 

[Uncle Erik]

The falling dollar isn't helping any. There's a watch I'd love to pick up, but the price has jumped over 25% in the past few months. I'm holding off.

It's hard to say what will happen with luxury goods, which expensive headphones are. So far, the highest income brackets haven't been hit too bad in the recession. That's the primary market, so if things stay OK for high earners, I'd expect prices to vary with exchange rates. They're not like mass market consumer goods, where demand will drop in bad times. Demand will (I think) stay relatively flat. There are enough sales for manufacturing to be profitable, but obviously not enough to drive the development of new products.

Anyhow, I think it would be relatively safe to buy now. Looks like fuel and transportation costs will continue to rise. I don't think we'll get out of the downturn without a stiff bit of inflation, either. Price aside, consider the use and enjoyment you'll get, too.

 

[Rainbow Randy]

Hey, thanks for your reply, Erik. So this might be a bad comparison because there seems to be a lot more price competition in the television market, but new televisions are coming in at several hundreds of dollars cheaper than last year's model's.