UPDATED REVIEW - Dec 1, 2022 - Digital Pianos for 2023 and beyond - What new digital piano models are coming from Yamaha, Casio, Kawai, Roland, Korg, and others in 2023? FIND OUT HERE | LOWER PRICES HERE | This year 2022 has been the a very challenging year with regard to lack of digital piano product availability from all major suppliers, new price increases, some piano stores going out of business throughout the US, increased consumer demand, and just overall uncertainty of our economy these days.
Speaking of the US economy, now we all are dealing with "inflation" for the first time in many years and it's going up much more quickly than most of us expected. High gas prices, high food prices, high housing prices, and overall much higher cost of living. There are many causes that can contribute to inflation, but regardless, we have it. So you put all this together with product shortages, price increases, and continuing supply chain issues, and unfortunately things don't look much better with regard to digital pianos for the upcoming year 2023.
One of the main culprits contributing to uncertainty for digital pianos for the year 2022 and now going into 2023 is the world-wide computer chip shortage. It's a very serious situation affecting all of the digital piano manufacturers, some more than others. But it is a very real thing and I don't see it ending anytime soon. My best educated guess is that we will continue to see digital piano product shortages through some or all of 2023 on many brands and popular models. Computer chips are in high demand for all kinds of consumer products and digital pianos are no exception. In fact demand for consumer chips worldwide is so strong that some of the overseas chip manufacturers are currently building multi-million dollar chip making factories right here in the US (it's about time) hoping it eases product delays here in the US one day asap.
TOP DIGITAL PIANO BRANDS RIGHT NOW
Kawai really does not know when their digital pianos will be produced again in normal supplies because they don't really have control over computer chip production since those raw chips comes from other companies. The Kawai digital piano lineup right now includes the ES120, KDP75, KDP120, ES520, ES920, MP7SE, MP11SE, VPC-1, CN201, CN301, CA49, CA59, CA701, CA901, NV5S, and NV10S. All of these models are very impressive and start at $900 and go up well past $10,000. The CA701 and CA901 are brand new 2023 models that just came out and they replace the prior CA79 and CA99. The lowest priced ES120 is also a 2023 model that just came out.
Yamaha is having their own share of production delays and their most popular digital piano models including Yamaha CLP-795GP digital grand piano are very hard to get right now. Depending on the model, some models will likely be delayed for approx 1-3 months or more for any new orders. That ETA could change but for now they are having difficulties for all the reasons that other manufactures are experiencing, including computer chip shortages, shipping delays from overseas, labor shortages, etc.
Yamaha's most popular portable & home cabinet models right now include the P-45, P125, DGX-670, YDP-105, YDP-S35, YDP-145, YDP-165, YDP-184, CLP725, CLP-735, CLP-745, CLP-765GP, CLP-775, CLP-785, CLP-795, CSP-150, CSP-170, CVP-701, CVP-805, CVP-809, CVP-809GP, NU1X, N1X, N2X, and N3X. Yamaha actually has more models (from their pro keyboard division) than that but I have listed only their popular cabinet and home portable models. Yamaha has, by far, the largest amount of models of digital piano manufacturers out there.
Roland is having the same issues as Yamaha with their most popular models are also delayed for possibly many months. Roland has many models of digital pianos including FP-30X ($899), FP-60X ($1249), FP-90X ($1999), F701 ($1599), RP701 ($1749), HP702 ($2800, HP704 ($3750), LX706, LX708, GP607, and GP609 at over $9999. However, like Yamaha, Roland also produces pro stage digital pianos, electronic guitar products, electronic drum products, and many other categories of music digital products which are experiencing product delays as well.
The Casio digital pianos company has also had delays. But even though their home digital pianos are very popular, the Casio company has seemingly been able to get ahead of the curve of product shortages where the wait time for their piano models is not near as long as Yamaha, Kawai, or Roland. This is surprising considering that Casio sells far more "units" of digital pianos and keyboards than does any other digital piano company.
The current Casio models over $500 include PX-S1100 ($699), PX-S3100 ($879), PX770 ($899), PX870 ($1199), AP-270 ($1199), PX-S5000 ($1199), AP470 ($1699), PX-S6000 ($1799), PX-S7000 $2499), AP-710 ($2799), GP-310 ($4299), and GP-510 ($6299). Casio also has some much lower priced entry level portable models and many 61 key keyboards under $500 which I have not listed here nor did I list the Yamaha or Roland portable digital pianos under $500. Of the Casio cabinet models currently on the market, the most popular models by far are the PX-S3100 ($879), PX-870 ($1199), PX-S5000 ($1199), PX470 ($1699), PX-S7000 ($2499), AP-710 ($2799), and GP-510 ($6299).
Korg is another major digital piano and keyboard company which is very popular with many of their products actually made in Japan as opposed to all made in China. Korg products are well known and used by professional musicians around the world for their quality piano key actions and piano sounds in attractive contemporary cabinets with powerful internal speaker systems. Korg is also having big product delays on their most popular models for as long as 3 months or more wait time.
The most popular Korg pianos right now are the B2SP ($749), XE20SP ($999), LP-380U ($1349), C1 Air ($1599), G1B Air ($1999), and SV2S ($2499). Korg has a few other portable digital pianos as well, but the ones I listed here are most popular. The Korg home cabinet digital pianos don't go beyond $2000 internet price whereas Yamaha, Roland, Kawai, and Casio all have models above $2000 and beyond.
TOP DIGITAL PIANO BRANDS FOR 2023
So what do things look like for new models this coming year in 2023? Well here's the confusion lately with that question. Starting with Yamaha, almost all of the Yamaha pianos out now, especially the Clavinova CLP and CVP series, have not been out very long. However the CSP Clavinovas have been out for a few years and it's my best (educated) guess that those 2 models called the CSP-150 & CSP-170 will be upgraded sometime in 2023 with the newer Yamaha key actions along with some possible "tweaks" to the speaker system, cabinet design, and maybe a few of the Smart Pianist app functions. I also anticipate that perhaps 2 more CSP models will be introduced including a top of the line wood (longer key) key action model and also a CSP model in a mini grand cabinet (that would be very cool!)
Update:The Yamaha "Arius" home digital pianos between $1000 and $2000 have been manufactured for many years under different model names. The Arius models between $1000 and $2000 called YDP-103, YDP-S34, YDP144, YDP-S54, and YDP-164 have now been replaced by newer models and are available now. Those newest model numbers are YDP-105 ($1099), YDP-S35 ($1199), YDP-145 ($1299), YDP-S55 ($1599), and YDP-165 ($1799).
The new models have also gone up in price approx 9-13% over the previous models. The price increases are due to new production and shipping cost increases, but overall the new models have not changed much over the previous models. Cabinets are the same, key action is the same, internal speaker system is the same, and functions are pretty much the same. It would appear that Yamaha made some tweaks in the piano sound engine and improved it a bit along with upgrading the USB connectivity in a couple models, but that's about it.
I am disappointed that Yamaha did not improve their key actions in the higher priced Arius models because those actions are somewhat heavy and stiff in my opinion, especially when playing more lightly. The higher priced Yamaha Clavinova models had the same issue and Yamaha just redesigned those key actions in a good way to improve playability so I was hoping Yamaha would do the same in these new Arius models, but they did not.
Roland has had their lineup of home digital pianos out for about 3-4 years but that's really not a long time in the world of digital pianos. The Roland FP-X portable series recently came out late last year (2021) as did the 701 model pianos so those won't change for awhile until a couple years from now at least. The oldest models for Roland home pianos that have been out for many years would be their digital grand pianos GP607 and GP609. Even though those 2 models are still popular for Roland, they are due for updates to key actions, piano sounds, additional features, etc. So unless Roland cannot catch up with production on current models, I do see a change coming for their digital grand pianos in 2023 but I don't see any changes coming for their vertical (upright) style digital pianos.
Roland, like the other guys, is still having some supply issues with their current lineup of digital pianos including the HP, LX, and GP series are still on back-order with some models with delays along with continued price increases on certain models. Nevertheless, the current lineup of vertical (upright style) and portable digital pianos are still too new for any upcoming changes for 2023 in my opinion, with the exception of the 2 digital grand piano models. So unless I am missing something here, I just don't see any other new models coming up for 2023
The current model Kawai digital pianos overall are still fairly new in the last few of years with a few of them having just come out within the last 12 months or so. That means Kawai is likely not very motivated to bring out many new models in 2023
We always have up-to-the-minute info on these things, so please ask us! The oldest models in the current lineup are the MP7SE and MP11SE portable "stage piano" digital pianos. The older ES110 home portable was just replaced by the new ES120 at $899. The ES120 has significant upgrades is a variety of ways and is a much better piano than the previous ES110. There may be changes coming up to the popular MP7SE and MP11SE towards the end of 2023 (that's just speculation at the moment) although they continue to be very good sellers for the Kawai company right now.
The brand new CA701 at $4899 and CA901 at $6399 are the latest models for 2023 and they just came out. These 2 pianos are the top of the line Concert Series furniture cabinet models and they are impressive. I will have my review out on these new models very soon.
Casio has just come out with 3 new 2023 models called the PX-S5000, PX-S6000, and PX-S7000 pro quality portable digital pianos, and they are very impressive. I have done a detailed review on them so please read it to discover what these new PXS models are all about.
It seems as if Casio is somewhat ahead of the "inventory curve" right now and hopefully for most or all of 2023. The lower priced PX-S3100 is selling for $879 and it also has some very impressive features. The most popular current Casio PX-870 and AP-470 models do not have Bluetooth wireless connectivity yet whereas a few new Casio portable digital pianos do have that technology.
So when it comes to Casio, it is possible they'll upgrade a few of their current furniture cabinet models with the Bluetooth technology along with some other new features, perhaps at some point in mid to late 2023, that's our best guess.
Casio currently has their higher end AP-470 at $1699, their AP-710 at $2799, the GP-310 at $4299, and the top of the line GP-510 at $6299. We think these models will continue through most or all of 2023, although their are certainly possibilities for new models between $1000 to $3000 price range.
Korg just recently updated their LP-380 piano to include a USB port with USB audio streaming technology because it did not have those features before. They now call that new model the LP-380U and I have done a detailed review of it. The other Korg cabinet pianos are still "relatively new" and have been selling so well for them over the past couple years that I really don't see any changes in 2023 for those models, especially because they also have had extensive product delays from their factories because of computer chip shortages and shipping delays in general.
ADDITIONAL PIANO INFORMATION
The bottom line is this: If current model digital pianos by the main manufacturers are not that old and still selling better than ever because of the pandemic with increased product demand couple with some severe product shortages, I really think there will be very little overall product change among the major digital piano manufacturers for the remainder of 2022. I believe there will be a few new models perhaps, but not many. If there are some changes or new additions then likely we won't see them until near end the year 2022 or into 2023.
The off-brand digital piano companies that regular piano stores typically do not carry are names that you can find at big consumer products stores like Costco, Guitar Center, and other similar businesses. They sell brands that are usually exclusive to them and some of those brands are "house brands" that they have made for them from factories in China. Based on my experiences playing those models, they are not anywhere near the capabilities of the name brands in being able to produce an authentic piano playing experience, and actually a few of them are not good at all in some notable ways which generally have to do with the piano playing experience.
Off-brands, (not the well known name brands generally seen in piano stores), include Williams, Suzuki, Artesia, Donner, Eastar, Kurzweil, the One, and a few others. Their digital pianos are not bad, and a few of them have some pretty cool "bells & whistles" on them as well as some nice looking cabinets. But I would personally not recommend them because of my disappointment with those key actions, the piano sound realism, and pedaling issues that I have found on many of those models. In most cases those brands just don't allow you to have a good piano playing experience...and for me that's ultimately what it is all about. Off brands can be less money but you "usually get what you pay for" as the old saying goes.
FINAL THOUGHTS
When it comes to the purchase of a new digital piano, in my opinion it should not just be about the lowest price, a beautiful cabinet, or bells & whistles like color touch screen, or big speakers. It should be more about how good can that instrument be in trying to recreate the piano playing experience you would get on a good acoustic upright or grand piano. In that way those off-brands as I call them just don't cut it at all and that's why they are a cheap price.
If you want the best piano playing experience that you can get for around $500 to well over $10,000, then stay with the name brands including Kawai, Casio, Yamaha, Roland, and Korg. They offer the best and most realistic piano performance, best authenticity, best durability, best warranties, and best resale value of all the brands out there.
Don't get fooled by "slick advertising" and slick promotional videos for some of those off-brands that I mentioned. I have done reviews of most of those lesser known brands and models so that you can know more about their pianos As for those brands possibly coming out with new models yet in 2022, it's possible but I doubt it because they are having similar production delay issues and most of their models are still relatively new from what I can see.
If you are wanting an up-to-date, new digital piano which will offer a great piano playing experience from a name brand digital piano company...do not "wait" for any new models. Other than what I mentioned here, they likely won't have much (if anything) in 2022 in the way of new models beyond what I have already talked about. You'll be fortunate just to get what you want in the major recommended brands for 2022 because product supply is delayed now and into the future, shipping delays from overseas are still a big problem, and computer chip shortages unfortunately may likely get worse before they get better.
I have heard from reliable sources that Kawai has a customer waiting period on many of their popular newer digital pianos of 3 months to 4 months or more as I have mentioned earlier which means new orders now will take even longer to get. Roland has severe product shortages with a waiting time of more than 3 months on some of their most popular digital pianos as does Korg. Casio is doing better (as I mentioned earlier) but is close to running out again of their popular models and is currently out of their top-of-the-line popular Grand Hybrid GP-310 ($4299) and GP-510 which sells on-line at $6299, and they're getting very low on their other popular models in the lower price ranges. Yamaha has 4 popular models called CSP series along with CLP-745 and CLP-795GP that may not be available for up to 6 - 9 months from now...yep...crazy stuff!
I have been told by a number of people around the country waiting for their piano orders that they are still waiting for their piano order to come in that was placed over 6 months ago or more. This is not counting new orders placed now. It really is that bad.
So again, if you want a new name brand digital piano anytime in the near future, please do not wait. Take my advice and put in your order now or as soon as possible. Most places will allow you to order with a relatively small deposit that can be refundable should the piano not come in or if you get to a point where you don't want to wait any longer.
So my recommendation is...get in line, know that you may have to wait awhile, and be patient...you'll eventually get the piano you want and likely have it for years to come. So what's another few months when you'll have it for many, many years into the future?! Also...please contact us before you buy any piano from anyone. We will help you get what you want (and maybe even sooner) and at lower prices with free shipping and no tax, brand new.
Want to know more about the latest digital pianos and how they rank for TOP 3 IN ALL PRICE RANGES? Then check out my review & report of these digital pianos at the following link: TOP 3 DIGITAL PIANOS IN ALL PRICE RANGES
If you want more info on new digital pianos and LOWER PRICES than internet discounts, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call direct at 602-571-1864.
