I’ve had the creeping feeling for a few months that TE is months away from announcing the OP-1 is discontinued. Judging by the rising prices on eBay and reverb, I’d say others are thinking the same thing. How high do you think prices would climb if it does get discontinued?
It’s the only synth I know of in the MoMA archive.
interesting theory. I’ve definitely noticed there doesn’t seem as many on the market in general (new and used) here in Australia. Thee always used to be a few on ebay/gumtree, now they only come up every few weeks/months. I wonder if they’ve scaled back production numbers or if it’s just a short-term coincidence
There was a short break in production for a while. I believe they started making them again, dodgy quality control and all it seems.
There was a short break in production for a while. I believe they started making them again, dodgy quality control and all it seems.
Where did you hear that they had a problem w/ quality control? I think I might have caught the wrong end of that, but I’ll be in Stockholm in a month or so, so I’m hoping for a TE miracle.
The OP-1 is their flagship product. As long as the sales don’t significantly drop (obviously don’t, since nearly everywhere OP-1s are sold out but still listed), I see no reason why they would discontinue it.
I’m pretty sure the day it gets discontinued the prices will go through the roof.
The OP-1 is their flagship product. As long as the sales don't significantly drop (obviously don't, since nearly everywhere OP-1s are sold out but still listed), I see no reason why they would discontinue it.
I don’t think sales going fine would necessarily keep TE from discontinuing the OP-1. I mean they have never been much into what users want. They have focused on what they think is great, different, new. To me, TE seem to have always walked their own way, at their own pace. This kind of approach usually yields great output, in this case the OP-1. If at some point TE decide to say goodbye to the OP-1, they’ll come up with another flagship product, of that I’m certain. Just my 2 cents.
I think the op-z is their new flagship, as crazy as it sounds. mobile device integration seems to be the future for many companies. A tiny slice of the billion-strong mobile market is worth more than a well-respected boutique product.
i cant imagine them dumping the op1. maybe refresh the internals so they can continue to add features?
If there becomes a point at which the cost and energy of creating more OP-1s (since it is done in house from what we can tell), then I can certainly see them dumping it. It already seems like something they do in the downtime between new product releases instead of a constant stream of OP-1s being made.
...(since it is done in house from what we can tell),.....
Legend has it part of that house belongs to China. Anyone has any intel on this? Not that if they’re made/assembled in the Far East would change how precious the OP-1 is to me, I’m just curious, is all.
From another thread: http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/28/3270259/teenage-engineering-op-1-accessories-launch-profile Search for China, second hit on the page say all but the first 2000 units were completely assembled in China. That interview is from 2012 but I don’t see why they’d change their process.
if you check sold listings you will see many that have sold for $1k or more. I would never buy (or sell) one for that much, but a lot of people would/do.
I wonder if that means completely assembled in China or PCBA and parts sourced from China and final assembly in Stockholm. It’s always cheaper to do it in batches, regardless, which probably explains why they back up in production so often.
i believe the way it works is if the price in green font is crossed out, a lower best offer was accepted. If strikethrough is not used, I think that’s the sell price.
Oh interesting. I never knew you could actually look at old listings. Digging in some, for any listing with multiple items sold (say like Sweetwater listing 12 OP-1s), then there might have been some offers taken lower than that price. You can see how many offers and actually see where some people ended up. I’m surprised at the number of people paying $900+ on the OP-1. There must be some good reason to pay that much for something that is still available for lower prices and from sellers who are posting for $1000 and accepting $860ish. I’m going to have to look at this historical prices more often for other things I’m interested in!
I don’t see them discontinuing the OP-1 for a long time. There is still high demand for them, and they sell at a high price point, so I would assume a large chunk of their profits/operating costs come from the OP-1.
I’ve had the creeping feeling for a few months that TE is months away from announcing the OP-1 is discontinued.They won’t.
All this anxiety is mainly down to the OP-Z getting released. I can’t see TE stopping the OP-1. It’s a nice little cash cow which is mature, requires little development, is more popular than ever. I mean Emu would still be making SP1200s if it wasn’t for the lack of filter chips
Yep cash cow