Why did Hornby 'drop' Live Steam

Since we interact with the public and since a common question is why did Hornby 'drop' Live Steam then I think we need an agreed answer.

Maurice reported his conversation with Frank Martin and concluded they dropped it because it became too expensive to re-stock.

I certainly agree that it became too expensive to restock but it seems clear to me that the decision not to promote/expand the range was made much earlier than the late 2008 and coincidental events of the £$ slide and Sanda Kan takeover.

Yes, Sanda Kan did not cease trading. It still exists today. It was taken over by Kader who owned Bachmann, Hornby's biggest competitor, and so began Hornby's problems getting stock. The exchange rate slide just made things worse.

The full stories are here

https://www.kader.com.hk/our_business/manufacturing_services.html

and

http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/141550.aspx

We know the pattern of Hornby Live Steam sales which had largely dried up by late 2008 when that perfect storm blew up. With that sales history and units still in stock from 2004, restocking cannot have been a high priority.

A trawl through Hornby's website changes shows the Live Steam story quite clearly.

Feb 18th 2007 was the last occasion when Live Steam was featured on Hornby's homepage and everything in stock. There were lots of links to further information including Do's and Don'ts and maintenance information.

https://web.archive.org/web/20070218191347/http://www.hornby.com/

After that Live Steam was consigned to "Hornby Products" link and discounts began (the 2 sets) on Dec 15 2007.

https://web.archive.org/web/20071215040323/http://www.hornby.com/live-steam-157/

In Setember 2008 before the Sanda Kan issue and £$ slide all LS products were in stock but somewhat buried. No homepage link. We know they were not being promoted at model railway shows.

By Feb 20 2009 (by which time Hornby will have been rattled by the £$ problem and Sanda Kan takeover by their competitor) Live Steam was being heavily discounted. This was an odd move if they intended to continue promotion. In the knowledge that replacement supplies would be expensive/restricted would it not have been better to reinstate the retail price and maybe even increase it through a premium marketing policy like they used with DTFS. Unless of course they were desperate for cash - the big 'Sale' of Dec 14 2009 including the last Live Steam stock suggests that might be the case.

So I don't think its right to say the reason it was discontinued was increased manufacturing cost but I do accept it would have barrier to further production.

The more important question is why did sales drop after such a promising start. The improvement in the £$ rate from around 1.4 to nearly 2 from 2003 to 2008 would have offered a great opportunity to expand the range.

Why didn't it happen?