More potential bad news for some big names...

  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

@secretguy 

+1

@grislybutter is off the mark here. Drama King. 

Get over it.