Kronos 88 no longer available

[Mr_SamDoogie]

Oh come on.

This a sign of the end of Karma as Kronos.

So if you won't get one now you won't get one ever again.
(Which makes sense but still)

[GregC]

After ten years of "good and loyal services", I've just had today confirmation of the End of Line for Kronos 88 and Kronos 73.
At the moment, no more news about Kronos 61.

https://techterms.com/definition/eol
"End Of Life." EOL, pronounced "E-O-L," is commonly used in information technology to describe a product that is no longer maintained or supported. It may refer to either hardware or software.

Hardware
Hardware companies often label products as EOL several years after production has ended. When a device reaches EOL status, the company ends official support...
===============================================

Lets clarify what we see happening.

First of all, Korg is contractually obligated per their 2 year warranty on factory new sales of Kronos.

Thus, new or last years new Kronos owners should not have a concern.

What I sense happening is that Korg Inc is no longer assembling or making Kronos

what we see for sale at retail new is all that is left of Kronos. IOW, once those new units are sold, no more, its all over for new K2's.

But don't take my word for it- call your Korg distributor and be direct with your questions on plans for Kronos.

In my country, the US, Korg USA can be directly contacted. Phone calls to the country distributor are more effective than ambiguous Internet searches
and ' form ' emails.

AFAIAC, its up to Korg to clearly communicate on important product changes. Its their product. If they choose to ' not communicate ', or whatever, thats their business.

Of course, there will always be a used Kronos market.

I have no affiliation with Korg. NDA's ? Not even a factor or a concern.

If anyone has anything more formal and official on the above, feel free to add or correct my statements with those facts.

[Liviou2004]

Yes Greg,

Perhaps I used the wrong words ? I should have said : End of Production.

Of course we will get 2 years of waranty and 10 years of available spare parts.

[voip]

And that "interesting info" is?..........

No more than what I said : Kronos 88 and 73 are over. That's all !!
What do you want to know ?

Sorry, should have made it clearer. It was a question directed to GregC. He wrote "I have had discussions and got interesting info". Just wondered what that info was ;-)

.

[GregC]

Yes Greg,

Perhaps I used the wrong words ? I should have said : End of Production.

Of course we will get 2 years of waranty and 10 years of available spare parts.

Hi Fred, I agree, End of Production might be a better fit.

I think It would be better if Korg Inc addressed the changes.

Otherwise, our country distributors are fair sources for our questions.

[Pieah]

AFAIAC, its up to Korg to clearly communicate on important product changes. Its their product. If they choose to ' not communicate ', or whatever, thats their business.

There is some logic in not announcing ‘EOP’ or an upcoming product too soon. It can cause people to postpone their purchase to get the new model. Better to sell remaining stock first and announce a new product not too far in advance. It keeps the cash flowing.

[GregC]

AFAIAC, its up to Korg to clearly communicate on important product changes. Its their product. If they choose to ' not communicate ', or whatever, thats their business.

There is some logic in not announcing ‘EOP’ or an upcoming product too soon. It can cause people to postpone their purchase to get the new model. Better to sell remaining stock first and announce a new product not too far in advance. It keeps the cash flowing.

no one can guess with any accuracy 'when ' there is a 'logical' Kronos 2 replacement.

And really, the 'assumption ' of eventual replacement is totally iffy.

A simple phone call to Korg USA will confirms whats what.
in regards to K2 production.

Even so, I don't see anyone being to concerned about a gradual wind down
of K2 units in the retail channel. I would guess most, like 95% of potential K2 purchasers have made their decision. After 10 years....

And we have Nautilus. Thats the possible alternative to some. Korg would like
folks to focus on Nautilus. If you or anyone makes a call to Korg USA you might get that distinct impression.

[geoelectro]

AFAIAC, its up to Korg to clearly communicate on important product changes. Its their product. If they choose to ' not communicate ', or whatever, thats their business.

There is some logic in not announcing ‘EOP’ or an upcoming product too soon. It can cause people to postpone their purchase to get the new model. Better to sell remaining stock first and announce a new product not too far in advance. It keeps the cash flowing.

When the Hammond B-3 was introduced in 1955 it was quietly released to dealers. No fanfare of the new model because Hammond wanted to protect the dealers who still had B-2/C-2's on their floor. Nothing new here...

[Pieah]

AFAIAC, its up to Korg to clearly communicate on important product changes. Its their product. If they choose to ' not communicate ', or whatever, thats their business.

There is some logic in not announcing ‘EOP’ or an upcoming product too soon. It can cause people to postpone their purchase to get the new model. Better to sell remaining stock first and announce a new product not too far in advance. It keeps the cash flowing.

no one can guess with any accuracy 'when ' there is a 'logical' Kronos 2 replacement.

And really, the 'assumption ' of eventual replacement is totally iffy.

A simple phone call to Korg USA will confirms whats what.
in regards to K2 production.

Even so, I don't see anyone being to concerned about a gradual wind down
of K2 units in the retail channel. I would guess most, like 95% of potential K2 purchasers have made their decision. After 10 years....

And we have Nautilus. Thats the possible alternative to some. Korg would like
folks to focus on Nautilus. If you or anyone makes a call to Korg USA you might get that distinct impression.

I agree that it remains an assumption that a successor will be released. I am merely trying to say that it is very well possible that Korg will not release info on a successor yet if there is one.
I live in the Netherlands, the Korg importer here is closed so no luck from this end in finding out what’s what I just got my Kronos SE last week so for me it is still a brand new keyboard to enjoy and discover. It’s an awesome machine in my opinion!

[danmusician]

Interestingly, Sweetwater's site at the moment says, "Only 8 left in stock! More on the way."

Is it possible this is all just a product of the chip shortage?

[burningbusch]

---Disregard---

Busch.

[blazerunner]

Maybe it's pandemic related... lots of gear backordered these days because of manufacturing issues... but lets face it Kronos line has to end sometime. If they're fazing it out and pushing the Naughtyless for the next few years before they release the Korg Hephaestus or whatever Clash of the Titans name they come up with I'm all for it.

The Kronos has a good run but Korg never really updated the things that would have kept it competitive against DAW's. I'm hoping the next model will fix that hardcore learning curve and streamline the user interface heavily while not just ditching convenient physical features and calling it "streamlined" (like the Naughtyless).

[GregC]

The Kronos has a good run but Korg never really updated the things that would have kept it competitive against DAW's. I'm hoping the next model will fix that hardcore learning curve and streamline the user interface heavily while not just ditching convenient physical features and calling it "streamlined" (like the Naughtyless).

Thats true, Korg stopped investing in Kronos some 3 yrs ago.

Another chassis color ? Platinum was high priced limited edition all the way, and they have been sold out in the US for many months. Platinum was about short term profit, which is not a surprise. Korg USA told dealers they are only getting a relative handful to sell, and thats all, folks.

In regards to Nautilus, I think ' streamlined ' is Korg speak for 'less cost '.

I don't have a philosophical problem with Korg, Roland, Yamaha making a profit.

I would like to see more value in an expensive keyboard vs less value. IOW, I would run Korg Inc differently and emphasize satisfying the demanding high priced niche.

[fomalhaut]

As I understand it, this means that the Nautilus is doing well. So all production capacity is geared towards getting more of them in the market.

Will we see a Kronos 3, I doubt it. It has been the undisputed champion and I'd say it destroyed the "flagship workstation" class during many years. And the Nautilus is only the last member of the OASYS architecture that we will see, a technological dead end (obviously it is a great instrument on itself!).

If Korg considers the flagship workstation category valuable, we'll see something revolutionary to last for another decade or more, but it will be a total departure from the Kronos in terms of compatibility.

If there is not enough money to justify the R&D on a new workstation, we will see more stuff like the Grandstage and smaller thingies like the Wavestation and Opsix, leaving the heavy lifting for DAWs. Which in my opinion is not that bad of an idea, although others will not agree.

This is not bad or good news per se. We are talking about musical instruments, and the Kronii are going to be singing for many years on anyway.

[ITguy54]

As I understand it, this means that the Nautilus is doing well. So all production capacity is geared towards getting more of them in the market.

How can that be when the Nautilus isn’t in the stores yet?