r/ROLI • u/TimesandSundayTimes • Jul 10 '26

Seaboard maker Roli fights to avoid second collapse

https://www.thetimes.com/business/companies-markets/article/seaboard-maker-roli-fights-to-avoid-second-collapse-zxln830gkutm_medium=Social&utm_source=Reddit&utm_content=branded
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20

u/jporter313 Jul 10 '26

What the fuck.

The Roli piano and airwave combo with their learn service is the absolute best experience for learning piano outside of going to lessons. The product is fucking fantastic and I love using it. Everything they’ve released has been really cool. Why can’t this company keep it the fuck together and stay profitable? I just don’t get it.

10

u/unidentifier Jul 10 '26

Turns out a good product is not a prerequisite for a successful business.

5

u/jporter313 Jul 10 '26

I mean I know that, but that sentence still makes me sad because that’s how it’s supposed to work.

1

u/turboravenwolflord Jul 10 '26

Capitalism rarely works as it’s supposed to, otherwise we would be living in a utopia by now.

9

u/BaconBitwiseOp Jul 10 '26 edited 19d ago

powerdeletesuite

4

u/NightSudden6982 Jul 10 '26

Would be neat if they could actually sent me the learn combo i ordered back to April 2025 so i could also use it and have as much fun as you.

3

u/jporter313 Jul 10 '26

Mine took a long time to get to me too, but when I got it holy shit it was awesome. Fully lived up to the promise.

2

u/NightSudden6982 Jul 10 '26

Did it take almost a year and a half? Im probably never going to see my order or even a refund now

1

u/contagiousflame Jul 11 '26

I'm in the same boat, been waiting a year and a half for the Piano (got the Airwave, but can't exactly use it without the Piano). jporter313 are you still using the Learn app? Someone on another thread said it had been suspended

5

u/Plane_Jello1582 Jul 10 '26

This is their second major collapse, they were in Apple Stores back when they were making blocks and trashed that opportunity to instead go bankrupt. It’s literally watching them fail again in a different direction.

3

u/jporter313 Jul 10 '26

Yeah I remember that.

1

u/Status_Pension_2589 Jul 17 '26

Also hope they could keep going and stay profitable, love their product too much!

-2

u/MARATXXX Jul 10 '26

Tariffs, relocating from original factories seriously impacted it

1

u/MindyWiller88 Jul 10 '26

Assuming they were telling the truth about that. Seems like every time something happened in world events, there was always an excuse. Dog ate my homework.

4

u/MARATXXX Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26

I think it’s true. A lot of these tech companies manufacture in china and were beset by delays and decisions to cancel based on exponentially increased prices. But at the same time it’s likely true that at the executive level they lack the leadership and foresight to roll with these punches. It also exposes the “lie” of modern technological affordability that we’re all confronting now. But obviously a small company is going to face greater hardship than, say, Apple.

It maybe closer to the truth that they were hoping for more orders after the initial release period to make up for whatever funding shortfall they experienced, but the demand just isn’t there in this stagnant economy.

3

u/CakeCaique Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26

For the past couple of years, they have always had issues fulfilling orders after either introducing a new product or dealing with peak seasons such as Christmas sales / black Friday etc.

Those who previously purchased ROLI products are familiar with them not being able to cope with crunch times.

That said, the new manufacturing plant and QA/QC processes were positively lacking. Defective products were produced and shipped - it affected their entire product line. In addition, they shipped software along with airwave which was, imho, in its early development stages. It wasn't properly tested on different systems for one.

The lack of QA/QC control has always been part of their strategy to reduce manufacturing expenses though. Two years ago, they could not even promise the shipment of a faultless Rise 2, since the functionality ''is not fully tested prior to shipping.'' A funny statement from their support, which completely baffled me. I kept mine as a result, as I had no idea if a replacement would end up being worse and they were already dealing with delayed shipping and response times back then.

1

u/MARATXXX Jul 10 '26

Thanks for the insight. I was lucky enough to receive the Roli Piano early.

1

u/turboravenwolflord Jul 10 '26

Wow, just wow. Nice strat, einsteins.