Does anyone have an idea as to when the new models might be announced? I’m considering an M11 Pro, but obviously thinking about waiting to see what a newer version might offer.
FiiO's Future Player Plan
Since some details about our M17 have unexpectedly been exposed, I would not mind introducing it to you. In this passage, I would give a brief plan about our future players.
1. There are great possibilities that our future players will all be priced at above 450 USD. Many reasons resulted in the suspended production of our previous middle- and high-end players, and there will be the following four player models joining the FiiO family, the M11S, M11Plus, M15S and M17. Due to the R&D progress and material conditions, this year will probably see a small amount of the M11Plus (we only have a little stock of the 4497 chip) and the M17 entering the market.
2. Low-end player: Current players including the M3K, M5 M6 will continue the production based on the sales condition. But the production will be suspended once the market demands are too small to organize production. The M3Pro, M7, and M9 have also been stopped for this reason.
3. Entry-level players have been affected by little tail amps and Bluetooth DAC/Amps. In addition, it has low margins, esp. in recent years with the cost of chips rising greatly, some of which even multiplied several times. So there are neither good sales volumes nor profits.
4. Mid-end player: Customers always have needs for streaming players like the M9. Due to the selling price and size limit, it is hard to control the cost unless we use a low-profile processor platform, an integrated DAC chip, or an extremely simple structure. To be honest, I have no faith in its market prospects. In addition, the Android platform goes up at a rapid speed, so even if we barely adopt the low-cost scheme to make it, next year it probably cannot meet the operation requirements.
5. Frankly speaking, we have a lot of product projects. However, labor resources are a problem. Therefore, we have to give up some products with small market requirements. I know that some users always expect the M9Pro, but it is a pity that all conditions are not available. Thank you for your time and support.
So if you don mind to wait some time longer, you could consider the M11Plus as well.
Best regards