GRE America Inc. Press Release

[blantonl]

I've received the following from GRE America reference the ongoing developments with GRE

October 23, 2012

To our valued Dealers and Customers,

Due to circumstances beyond its control, General Research of Electronics of Japan (GRE) is
temporarily not able to manufacture the GRECOM and Radio Shack branded radio scanners.

The Chinese Government’s plan to redevelop the area where the GRE factory had been in operation for over ten years finally forced its closure. Anticipating this eventuality, GRE was in the process of building a new factory but unfortunately the cost of raw materials, labor and increased taxes created a heavy financial investment burden that could not be effectively recovered.

GRE America continues to market, support and service the GRECOM branded scanners and is
contractually committed to keep the Library Database updated and current. GRE America will
continue to market, service and support Alinco’s radio products without any interruption.

We sincerely apologize for this unfortunate turn of events. GRE is proceeding to establish a contract with a new factory and believes it will be able to restart the manufacturing in the near future.

For continued sales, service and support, please contact the GRE America office.

Raj Gounder
Director of sales
GRE America, Inc.

PDF of the official release from GRE America is attached

 

[kruser]

Thanks for sharing the news Lindsay.
Let's hope they can get things turned around and back into the scanner business sometime in the not too distant future!

 

[E-Man]

Yay! Great News!

 

[zzdiesel]

Let's hope the heated discussion about this can end now.

 

[GTR8000]

And just to head off any "But is this official?!? What is your source?!?" nonsense like we had in the previous thread...here is the announcement on GRE's own website:

GRE Official Announcement 10/23/2012

 

[fourthhorseman]

glad they have their feet in a forward facing direction!
just started to appreciate the GRECOM nameplate,,

Cheers and best wishes to the GRE team!

 

[zzdiesel]

Yep, that's the icing on the cake.

 

[SCPD]

Let's hope the heated discussion about this can end now.

Sadly, when confronted with facts, many choose to ignore them... often at the expense of everyone's sanity.

 

[SquierStrat]

compared to before, this is GREAT news!!

 

[pratzert]

OK. So at least they announced they "ARE" trying to get the manufacturing up and running.

I wish them success.

Lindsay..... Any more inside info you can share at this point. Perhaps like how soon the Mfg can start again?

Thanks.

 

[JASII]

I wonder how much inventory is in the pipeline? It will be interesting to see how pricing goes on this. Will it increase because it will become scarce or will prices drop? My only experience with anything remotely similar is when Standard Amateur Radios were no longer marketed in the US. I had sort of a love/hate relationship with them. When my C5718 worked, it was great. However, it made many trips to Standard Amateur Radio in Michigan for repairs.

 

[twoxland]

This is great news!

 

[frank-ortiz]

I really hope them the best, and hope that they get up and running again. GRE is such a great company and their customer service is the best I have seen.

 

[One13Truck]

Well the announcement I'm taking as good news and hope they can find a factory to begin the manufacturing process ASAP... We have lots of empty factories and modern buildings here in Pa that would be perfectly suited and already ready to roll with a high unemployment rate meaning a large employment pool as well... <hint hint> LOL

That might be wishing for too much to bring it back to the States but as long as production is running again at some point soon is great to hear. But now I'm back on the fence for my next purchase. Before this I was going to grab a 996XT and then later a PSR800 and maybe a 900 when it finally came out. As of last week I was leaning more to grabbing an 800 while they're still in stock not knowing if I should be risking a price increase or decrease to hold off. Now I'm back to being undecided.

 

[SCPD]

China's economy has matured tremendously in the last 15 years. Coastal manufacturing areas are developed to the point that breaking new ground is expensive. To get concessions and incentives from local government, you have to set up operations further inland.

Manufacturing: The end of cheap China | The Economist

NPR.org » Wu-Where? Opportunity Now In China's Inland Cities

There are plenty of shops around the world that mold plastic cases, print circuit boards, and stuff them with components. This is a temporary setback. There are so many options to resume production without waiting for a new factory. Take the bay area for example ...

Mold Injections in 94002 ZIP Code (Belmont, CA) | ZIP Code 94002 Plastic Injection Molding

Printed Circuit Boards (PCB) in Northern California (CA) on ThomasNet.com

 

[pepsima1]

Wonder if scanner sales being down and cities and counties going encryption that these companies are starting to realize that this industry is starting to loose steam and why put a lot of effort into R & D to make these very expensive trunking scanners that will be almost no good since there is no cure for the encryption monster. Why spend 500 to 600 bucks on all of this technology when at the end of the day you cant listen to what you want to hear which is good interesting communication that makes your blood race threw your veins. By the end of 2017 or 2019 all cities and counties will have to upgrade their systems and the trend has been full encryption and the trend has been going this way for the past 15 to 20 years and its catching on real quick. So when manufacturing all of these new high tech P25 systems with Phase 1 and Phase 2 and TDMA and X2 they might be in the clear digital for a while but these system are so up to date that all they will have to do is flip the switch on the fly and full encrytion is in full force and you will be dead in the water with a very expensive trunking scanner.

Please chime in if you think different. This doesnt take a rocket scientist to figure out and be-able to look into the future

 

[rdale]

Wonder if scanner sales being down and cities and counties going encryption that these companies are starting to realize that this industry is starting to loose steam and why put a lot of effort into R & D to make these very expensive trunking scanners that will be almost no good since there is no cure for the encryption monster.

All once sentence? Wow... Anyways - your wondering is not correct. A high majority of scanning is not encrypted.

By the end of 2017 or 2019 all cities and counties will have to upgrade their systems

Whoever told you that is wrong.

and the trend has been full encryption and the trend has been going this way for the past 15 to 20 years and its catching on real quick.

Whoever told you that is wrong.

all they will have to do is flip the switch on the fly and full encrytion is in full force and you will be dead in the water with a very expensive trunking scanner.

Whoever told you that is wrong.

This doesnt take a rocket scientist to figure out and be-able to look into the future

Agreed.

 

[gmclam]

Wonder if scanner sales being down and cities and counties going encryption that these companies are starting to realize that this industry is starting to loose steam and why put a lot of effort into R & D to make these very expensive trunking scanners

With a mind like that no one would ever produce an analog TV because digital is coming out soon. Or 3D .. or better compression. No one would produce a gas guzzling auto because electric is cleaner or because newer models will get better mileage.

I think companies are going to make money while they can. And as long as there are people buying, and they can turn a profit, they'll make 'em.

Please chime in if you think different. This doesnt take a rocket scientist to figure out and be-able to look into the future

I wonder how many people REALLY understand (electronics) manufacturing. And worse, the fact that most Americans make purchase decisions solely based on price (worse possible choice). You get what you pay for.... BUT, these companies know they need to be (price) competitive too.

It sounds like what happened here relates to typical manufacturing issues that companies run into every day. Want to know why many companies are not hiring? Because there are too many unknowns out there. Whether US government (regulations) or foreign governments and costs, it keeps changing. They must factor it all in as part of doing successful business.

Re encryption: there will continue to be stuff to listen to for those willing to seek it out.

 

[ffexpCP]

GRE America continues to market, support and service the GRECOM branded scanners and is contractually committed to keep the Library Database updated and current.

Any idea how long they are contractually committed to update the library?

 

[APX8000]

Sadly, when confronted with facts, many choose to ignore them... often at the expense of everyone's sanity.

Well said.

Thanks for the update Lindsay.