So the President McKinley EU CB Radio is due out in the coming weeks and there has been much speculation as to how much this radio will cost. The only UK price that I've seen mentioned so far was £289 but as President have yet to officially announce the price we must take that with a pinch of salt for now.
What we do know is that President's previous SSB offerings, the Grant 2 and the Jackson 2, have both been priced over £250 so it it likely that this new radio will be priced at the same level, but how much will people be willing to pay????
In order to gauge opinion I recently ran a Facebook poll to see how people felt about pricing on this new radio.
I asked the question "The new President McKinley EU will be available in the New Year but how much will you be willing to pay?".....
The results show that the expected £250+ price range is not at all popular, with only 2.5% of those responding saying that they would pay between £251 and £300 for the radio.
In the price range £201 - £250 results show that only 9% of those responding would be prepared to pay.
However a massive 70.5% of those responding said that they would pay for the radio if it were priced between £151 and £200 so I think we can safely say that this is the sort of price range that potential buyers are looking at.
Of course it is unlikely that President will sell the new radio in that price range (They'd have to slash the prices on the Jackson 2 and the Grant 2 for a start) but if they were able to sell it at that price I think demand would be significant.
In the US the McKinley has been seen for around £150 but the EU version will have FM and probably an EXPORT mode as well so it is reasonable to pay a little more.
Anyway all will be revealed soon enough I guess. Personally I have really been looking forward to this radio since it was first rumoured in the back end of 2016, but I think it has taken far too long to get this radios to market, the whole CB radio landscape has changed. Conditions are terrible due to us reaching the bottom of the solar cycle and there is very little action on the bands. I'm sure many people will find it difficult, maybe impossible, to justify buying another radio when most will have several SSB radios sitting gathering dust on shelves in their radio shacks. I really do believe that price will be a very important factor in how well this radio sells and as the poll appears to show, very few are willing to pay over the odds for a CB radio these days.
So will I be buying one?
If you had asked me 12 months ago I would have shouted 'YES' without hesitation, if you had asked me 6 months ago I would have said 'YES, VERY LIKELY', but asking me today I have to say 'MAYBE.... DEPENDS ON THE PRICE!'
As a matter of interest here are a few comments made on the Facebook thread in relation to the President McKinley....
"Is it going to be a true President or a anytone in a president wrapper?"
"I think I'd prefer a more traditional layout if I was to buy another. I like the power and performance of my SS9900 but its menu-driven nature is a pain"
"To plastic for me .. a proper McKinley should be chrome as should all president radios"
"Anyone willing to pay £251-£300 for a CB has money to burn"
"My answer to the vote is NONE OF THE ABOVE! If you have £150ish to spend and only want a chicken box buy an Alinco DR-135. If you have £200/250 to spend buy a second hand Alinco DX-70, Full HF (for those who can go there) 100w output, great filters, a noise blanker that works, ect, ect! Unlike some of the crap that gets bigged -up on here a truely great "Old School radio" thats worth owning!! President gear old & new is over priced for what it is"
"Buy second hand HF. That way you might even broaden your radio horizons"
"Quite happy with a 9900 and a Grant2. Another one would be overkill"
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