More potential bad news for some big names...

@mahler123 +1

The post from avsjerry needs to be taken down because it’s false info (actually lies) and it’s not valid for this thread. 
You can still get great sounding gear, even some of the best gear at reasonable prices. Usher speakers have always competed with the best for a fraction of the cost. At rmaf years ago, my wife and I boiled down the purchase of 2 speakers: the $100k Raidho or the Revel Salon2 for $20k. We liked the sound of the Revel better.

Look at any of the PS Audio speakers, they punch way above others for a fraction of the cost, same goes for their electronics.

Kids will never buy into the high priced audio goods for a number of reasons, they can’t afford it, they like their AirPods and beats, and they would rather spend a large sum of money on a Porsche/other sports car. I have 2 kids that grew up having access to my nice audio systems and they spend their money on cars.

When the baby boomers are gone, so will be the higher up audio manufacturers, unless the kids that get a large inheritance, turn to audio purchases but I doubt it

  Watching the trends, I have come to believe that high end audio is dying simply because of the progression of time. Music has changed, and so has the way people listen to it. Very few people today want or need a space hogging, dedicated audio system in their domicile, be it an apartment, or, in many cases, their parent's basement. As others have noted, many just don't have the discretionary funds to invest in expensive gear. Their device of choice for listening to music can be carried in their pocket, and compact wireless speakers with acceptable sound quality can put hassle free music in any room in their abode.  Most don't own any music in physical format. Their library, if they even have one, resides in the 'cloud' or they stream it from providers. 

  The hobby we love has just become a victim of the changing times. All good things eventually come to an end, but, who knows. Maybe in the future, the 'retro bug' will kick in on a new generation, and our gear will be dusted off, refurbished, and given another go, probably at prices higher than we paid for it!

Maybe we should blame the invention of the IPod?

again, look at the details. Well over a billion dollar in audiophile speaker sales alone annually. That means close to a million speakers a year sold.

It's both good and bad, small enough to dismiss, big enough to support a lot of companies, it's yes, it's a blip, less than 0.1% of the consumers of Europe and the US. But I would approach it from the music side: people listen to more music and not less. Mostly headsets, yes, but again, one out of 10 headset buyers will be curious about hifi. Every generation will come to age eventually when they will jump on the wagon