SME is leaving the OEM and aftermarket/retail tonearm business.

Audiotroy, no they are not. It depends on the cartridge. But I do myself prefer the 4 points. I have a 9 and a 14. The SME 5 would be wonderful for high compliance cartridges but there are not many of those left. So for most of the cartridges we like today you are right. I like the Triplanar but do not like unipivots. The Graham is the best unipivot available because of its magnetic stabilization and build quality but I think the 4 point 9 is a better arm at a fraction of the price. If you have a Koetsu or an Air Tight the 4 point 14 is an arm you have to hear. 

oscar44

Tend to disagree with some on the SMEs. I've owned the IV and the V and found them to be excellent. They exude a quality and precision that makes them a joy to set up and use, and I had great experiences with many cartridges on them over the years.

Same here. I've used an SME V for years and it's the best pick-up arm I've ever had. In my system it replaced a Fidelity Research FR-64FX, which is also an excellent arm. But I think the SME is better, and it is also more versatile.

Thats a mistake.

@mofimadness said the most salient point insofar as they took the arm so far forward.

They don't go well with Linn Sondeks and other 3 points due to their weight (talking about the iv and v) but they are a great choice for Roksan, Point triangle and many other decks.

Arms are so deck and cartridge specific it's a bit unfair saying it did not go with a certain deck.

The build quality and repeatability of set up are both superb as is their customer support. They probably sold more that most high end arm manufacturers combined - that is testament to this.

Also bear in mind that the likes of:
Schroeder
Kuzma 4 point
DaVinci
Vertere
Breuer

some are multiples the price to the SME V which is made as good or better than its competition. The SME V remained relatively affordable for a pretty long time - they have suddenly become quite inflated unfortunately - but hey so is all of the high end in audio.

I must say that it is a bizarre decision to stop the sale of something unless it is not profitable.

The Sme production are like the best weapons, well built, excellently finished, solid and durable, produced with constant performance and where possible they also build the screws inside the factory (has anyone ever visited the factory?) and the spare parts can be found for many many years reassuring the owners; can we write all this for other builders who do little or nothing on their own?