From Upscale Audio:
As you bring in 2022, there will be a 10% price increase on Focal loudspeakers, Naim Audio, and Focal Naim America’s distributed brands, including Musical Fidelity, IsoAcoustics, and Vicoustic.
I’m surprised that it’s not more. Some of our supplies (metals) have doubled in price just this year.
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I was surprised as well. If you had asked me before I read this info, I would have guessed 15-20% depending on the component makeup.
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Likely that they are absorbing some of the increased cost by temporarily taking a hit on margins. Even in our ridiculously expensive hobby, there’s still some price-elasticity of demand, meaning that an increase in prices will result in a decrease in demand.
As you noted, a 10% increase, all things considered, doesn’t seem excessive, so perhaps most potential customers will look at it the same way. However, 20% in a single step might be enough to deter buyers to the point that the decreased demand for the product offsets the additional margin dollars, resulting in an even less optimal business outcome.
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I’m a bit surprised as Focal speakers had a pretty substantial jump in prices within the past 2 years.
Focal raised prices by 30% in some instances on their products just before COVID-19 hit. I’m cynical about the increases on their speakers. Everything else is probably justified. The market will decide on whether it works for them.
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I asked a local Focal dealer about the increases. He didn’t see an effect on sales. But he did say that the customer base did shift to customers who purchase at a higher end.
He also mentioned that Focal had kept the US prices artificialy low during the first few years of introduction in the US. But, the prices in Europe had been closer to target prices. I haven’t looked to see if that’s true for EU pricing since intro.