Panigale
Seems Thomas confirmed what I stated was the cause of their stock sell off in Sept. and Oct. of last year. In his new blog Thomas admits they have no XBOX One wheel in development after months of skating the question.
My no new wheel rim comment was incorrect but I didn't account for these low tech wheels getting announced. i.e. I should have said, no new advanced wheel rims will be released because that is what I had envisioned when I made that statement. The "new" F1 wheel is just a carbon sticker on the old rim with different colored buttons. Neither were what many expected after two years of waiting. Again this is a result of no development funds.
Where does this leave Fanatec? A T500 was already a better bargain but with the new F1 rim price (will replace the old one) soon to be $250, $700 (not including shipping) with no pedals is the entry fee. Rims should be cheaper and the CSW should be improved to better compete with the T500. Instead they are raising prices, making no improvements, and labeling vocal customers with past issues as opinion leaders. If the situation seemed challenging before I think it is even more so now.
A free dog bone:
Thomas should buy up the stock and take it private. Having a publicly traded company airs all dirty laundry to not only potential customers but potential partners.
I would imagine the performance of Fanatec was reviewed by Microsoft and played heavily in their decision. Sony will be no different. Thomas said "other companies which make much bigger business with Microsoft than us got this wheel business first" which is nonsense. If that was true Fanatec would never have been picked for Forza 4.
My no new wheel rim comment was incorrect but I didn't account for these low tech wheels getting announced. i.e. I should have said, no new advanced wheel rims will be released because that is what I had envisioned when I made that statement. The "new" F1 wheel is just a carbon sticker on the old rim with different colored buttons. Neither were what many expected after two years of waiting. Again this is a result of no development funds.
Where does this leave Fanatec? A T500 was already a better bargain but with the new F1 rim price (will replace the old one) soon to be $250, $700 (not including shipping) with no pedals is the entry fee. Rims should be cheaper and the CSW should be improved to better compete with the T500. Instead they are raising prices, making no improvements, and labeling vocal customers with past issues as opinion leaders. If the situation seemed challenging before I think it is even more so now.
A free dog bone:
Thomas should buy up the stock and take it private. Having a publicly traded company airs all dirty laundry to not only potential customers but potential partners.
I would imagine the performance of Fanatec was reviewed by Microsoft and played heavily in their decision. Sony will be no different. Thomas said "other companies which make much bigger business with Microsoft than us got this wheel business first" which is nonsense. If that was true Fanatec would never have been picked for Forza 4.
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