technics petition poll balance
TurntablesBlog

Revisiting the Technics petition and poll one last time

technics petition poll balance

There has been a good deal of turntable based activity in the pages of DJWORX over the last fortnight. So before we get back to the wider DJ scene, I just wanted to revisit the poll that we ran alongside the Technics petition story. With over 1000 responses, it gives a non-scientific but reasonably representative sample that does show that support for the return of the brand is split.

THE RESULTS

technics petition

Breaking this down into broader strokes:

  • Combined Yes votes number 37%, just over one third.
  • Combined Maybe votes come in at 48%, almost half.
  • Pure No votes number 11%. This includes 3% of the “other” votes who said they already have them. My mistake for not adding that as an option.

There are many ways to massage statistics to make them look better or worse (combine yes + maybes, maybe nots and nos etc) but I feel that yes, maybe, and no offers a pretty clear breakdown of feeling. So it’s not an overwhelming wave of support for the return of  the beloved Technics brand. A lot of yes love, but much of it is conditional with a good deal of negativity too.

APPLYING THIS TO THE TECHNICS PETITION

So if we apply this to the petition numbers – it currently stands at a little over 17K of the 25K needed. So let’s make the not-unreasonable assumption that it will get the full 25K, thus 9250 people will allegedly absolutely buy them (safe to assume a pair), meaning that 18.5k turntables will be bought. For reference, that’s probably more than they sold in the last few years of the product.

So if Panasonic do gear up and make say 20K fresh Technics turntables, the stats indicate that they’ll all be sold, especially if the cost is sane as this will capture the maybes who were price-dependent. If the turntable was updated so that the fixed cables were made to be removable, then that would get a few more yeses too.

THE REALITY

There is however a huge difference between people signing a petition and really getting behind a cause to actually ponying up the cash to get a pair. The intention is there — now it’s time to see how many people are actually serious about it. The idea of using Kickstarter could be the way to go, as it allows people to take the next step of putting their money where their mouth is, and gives Panasonic some idea of more realistic numbers too without having to take the money or commit.

We’ll keep on monitoring progress on this campaign and let you know if anything develops.

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Mark Settle
The Old Owner
I was the editor around these parts for the first two decades of the DJWORX journey. I’m on a creative journey at The Worxlab, and drop in occasionally here. Expect the odd article from me every now and again.
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36 Comments

  1. The statistics are always going to be a bit skewed, given that people who are generally a bit “meh” about Technics SLs are unlikely to have taken part in the poll in the first place.

  2. until i hear that they are going into production, i will continue to look at reloop rp-7000’s till my cdj 2000’s are paid off. in a year, if given the opportunity to buy a pair of shiny new tech’s, they’ll be at the top of my list.

  4. This petition is cute, but do you think that the 60th largest company in the world will listen to a petition like this? I’m just unaware that Panasonic was actually involved in this petition in any way. And, the vinyl consumer market of mainly LPs is not DJs, it’s like college students who need a $100 USB turntable. I just don’t see this happening, esp. since an internet poll doesn’t result in, well results (you know, 500 people say they will come to your event on FB but 6 people come). I’d be impressed and baffled if 50K people signed this and any action was taken. Being a realist here. I also wonder if the Technics trademark is still owned by Panasonic; in the US it’s now registered by some dude in Florida, which presents its own problem.

      1. That link times out, so I’ve done a search for Technics in the USPTO. But if it’s the same as the one I’ve found, a guy in Florida now owns the Technics logo trademark for tablet computers only.

        I’m far from a trademark expert, but if Panasonic wanted to, they could get that overturned simply on the grounds of trademark dilution.

        1. that is if they still own it and it hasn’t been abandoned as a mark. if abandoned, then it’d be fair game. but, I agree on the dilution part. the key is that, well, you have to register in every territory in which you plan to exploit the mark and I didn’t see anywhere in a USTPO search of a Technics mark linked to Panasonic (the other thing is that this dude could be a lawyer here registering on Panasonic’s behalf). But, you’d think that Panasonic would keep the brand, but you cannot keep a brand name unless you use it to make product, at least at a federal level.

        2. still, do you think Panasonic would listen, regardless of trademark, to a petition like this? I’d be very, very, very surprised. It seems like such a niche market/product. Then, would retailers want to carry it? 1200s used to wholesale at $400, so larger retailers sold them as loss leaders. i’d love to seem them come back, but I don’t see a real and growing product market here.

          1. Panasonic is listening, and I’m sure that it would take just a small amount of resource to see if this was a viable project or not. The issue as you’ve pointed out is that the margins were always small. UK dealers have told me that they used to make about £5 per deck because Panasonic would do deals – because they didn’t need to. And they would want dealers to order hundreds at a time as well. No retailer can afford that level of stock when the returns are so small when coming out a recession in a product group that isn’t really growing.

            1. i would love to see this happen but i can’t imagine that it would make sense to a company of that magnitude. I’d figure that someone would buy the trademark and make them, you know, a boutique company. Over here, Guitar Center sold them as loss leaders and would make money on other products. To make your money back you had to sell them here for $500-$600 ($400 was wholesale and that number doesn’t include tariffs and shipping). i just want spare parts though!

  6. all the amazing apps and devices; djplayer with dvs, djay & autocut, konkrete performer, the v7, the scs4dj,…and we are still talking about record players. seriously, ? lazy people reminisce

    1. Vinyl players are still important as using DVS has a feel all of its own that is pretty difficult to emulate with any other format player, and having a feel for it is a definite skill.

      But yeah, there are other technologies out there which are exciting and pushing things forward – and surely that’s what it was all about in the first place?

      1. It’s not even about DVS. When synths, drum machines, and samplers came along, they were seen as replacing real instruments. Instead they’re now used alongside each other.

        Just because we have all this cool new digital gear, it doesn’t make turntables any less valid. We don’t stop using them just because there are new platforms out there.

        1. That’s the thing. There is room for everything to coexist and having choice is a good thing. Some things are better in certain situations than others and you can choose what you feel is the right tool for the job – being format and technology agnostic can only be liberating.

      1. A bunch of people spouting off opinion. Yay. I love emotional documentaries, but get some facts clear-

        1. Unless you are spending a good deal on your needle as well, you are missing a complete picture. DJ needles sound meh at best. Comparing my nude diamond Ortofon to any needle in my collection is like comparing a Picasso to an Etch-a-sketch. Most people however settle on crap needles.
        2. If it was recorded in the mid to late 80’s to arguably the late 90’s/early 2000’s, chances are it was recorded on DAT- a 16bit/48k format (and the 48k was only added to make lossless digital copying impossible to CD, a crude form of copy protection). You aren’t getting anything back.
        3. There are a great amount of turntables out there that are not the 1200 that perform equally well. Your vinyl will play on other high end turntables.
        4. The 1200 isn’t coming back.

        1. 1 most of my music collection is from prior 86 as the music was much better and original back then, no DAT, even if it was DAT i wouldnt care, i just like playing records with decent sound

          2 My needles are just fine (Concorde Elektro), no need to get on the audiophile tip, way too expensive

          3 Technics is alive and kicking, i make money being a seller of parts for the 1200, i have orders coming in every day. How would that be possible if Technics was dead? It will outlast every single controller out there and the irony is that the 1200 can be used as a controller as well, just add some dicers and youre good to go (not that i need any lol)

          1. 1. Supports the point. Great, you can buy old music. Try being a DJ using vinyl and play modern tracks.
            2. Then you don’t have ears. Seriously, audiophile needles are there for a reason. DJ needles are made for tracking, not fidelity. You can get a better needle for not much money.
            3. Supports the point. You sell spare parts, which means there is used product flowing or in use by the same guys for years, which there is enough stock of till after we both are dead. A re-release would not add new customers, thats it.

  7. Guys, give it up !
    There are more than one or two decent turntables out there which performs better than the good old 1200.
    This whole act is kinda begging Pioneer to go and re-produce CDJ-1000.
    I mean, all of these words are spilling for a logo on a turntable ???

    As a dj i used to work with pair of 1200 for over 15 years, i loved them like they were my kids, but i have to admit that if you take the emotional element out of the story, the RP-7000/RP8000 by Reloop are better by far.

    So what’s the point of taking a brand out of the grave, while there are better products out there ?
    Do you really think someone will turn the power on again on the factory just to produce 400 units more ???

    1. you’re born on the 1990 or so because you’re talking about something you just dont know … reloop better than a sl 1200 only in your bedroom boy.

  8. Why not do a kickstarter style campaign? People who will actually pony up to buy them if the threshold is met will actually put their money where their mouth is, and everyone else can just kind of show support by pledging enough for technics swag.

    1. People keep on saying that. Here is the thing though-it isn’t a re-release if there is new tech added, and if there is new tech added, then there is added engineering costs which will balloon the cost far beyond the already large cost of re-making the tooling. Engineering is not free.

        1. This is why the internet sucks. If either of you read the last article, the whole point was that with zero new engineering effort that the 1200 re-release probably wouldn’t be profitable. Add a year of R&D, and good luck even breaking even. Even if it were a minor profit, a company like Panasonic would have to take resources away from things that would actually make cash in a way that shareholders could stand behind.

          Work in dev and we’ll talk.

          1. How much does the pioneer DDJ-SZ fiasco have an impact in sales-percentages of said model? Are you able to extrapolate these numbers? Also how does the silence of dj-news-sites (even the authority of dj-news is not reporting/admitting the problems) affect the chute of sales-percentages (if there is one)? Polemic maybee but still of interest…

  10. Here’s my two cents on the whole audio quality of vinyl vs. audio quality of digital thing… who is using actual vinyl at gigs anymore??? Everyone I know using Technics 1210s are using timecode vinyl, so unless you’re strictly playing regular vinyl records then audio quality is taken out of the equation. Also, if you’re dead set on continuing to use 1210s then you can still buy a newer, recently produced pair and they’ll last you 20+ years which is more than long enough because chances are that if you’re a hardcore 1210 enthusiast then you are 30-50 years old and the decks will last longer than the remainder of your DJ career (or your life lol).

    1. I just wanted to add… I think a lot of DJs are clinging to the idea that they will sleep easier at night with the knowledge that they could buy a pair of 1210’esque Pioneer turntables if they wanted to. But I think a lot of the desire to see 1210s resurrected is an emotional, nostalgic reaction and not a realistic or practical reaction. DJs really need to get over the “I don’t want to live in a world where 1210s aren’t produced anymore” mentality. Besides, most DJs who use 1210s have essentially turned them into glorified midi controllers anyways by using them with timecode vinyl, Serato and dicers. Live in the now, adapt or die, blah blah blah…

  11. If panasonic dismantled the factory and the assembly line where the turntables are manufactured and assembled, the cost of implementing a factory again is higher than the benefit they can get by selling a few thousand units, so let yourself nonsense

  12. “reasonably representative sample”

    This is so very very far from representative… there is a thing called interest bias. People participate in polls/surveys that match their needs.
    e.g. Start a poll/survey about how cool dogs are in a representative panel: Mostly dog people will answer and the results are skewed to the positive side. Start a poll about how cool dogs are on a dog fan page: pretty much only dog people will answer and the results are skewed massivley to the positive side.

  13. Mark settle is a biased asshole who helps his buddies who live in the u.k. Mark you fuck thank you for being the fuck that you are all it takes is a person on a mission and you motherfucker are my new mission to let the world know what a biased motherfucker you are. Stay tuned you motherfucking fuck.