Something Fishy going on with Cintiq 21ux availability

[Metric]

I have noticed, that every official store for Cintiq 21ux are all on backorders. Not only that, but at first some sites were saying they would get some in at earlier Feb. However, now all have moved to march.

This is leading me to believe that wacom is liquidating all cintiq 21ux. Which in turn, could mean they are preparing for a new larger cintiq release.

I mean really, the new cintiq21ux has been out over a year, or I could just be over thinking it.

[inkdrop]

I have watching the same thing and thinking the same thing. I was curious if they would preview something new at CES, but it seems they were only showing off last years model.

[AegisKleais]

Yeah I'm under the same suspicions but I think inkdrop hit the nail on the head. CES 2011 was Wacom's chance to get the word out about any newer model than the DTK-2100 (21UX 2010 model)

As for excuses/reasons, word is that Wacom's manufacturer for the Cintiq's anti-glare/scratch screen had a 20-30% reduction in stock, since they provide glass surfaces for other devices like mobile phones, tablet devices, etc.

Thing is, though people WANT this item a lot, there isn't a lot of DEMAND for it (usually a high demand/low supply results in jacked prices) In actuality there is a low demand and an even lower supply.

I bought mine from Corel (hoping a big name like Corel would be a priority for Wacom to get products out to), but they told me their current estimate (not a guarantee) is 12-14 weeks. Since I ordered on Jan 2, that's between April 1 - April 14. Absolutely horrible availability, and I'm very surprised to see Wacom in this situation at all.

Such a lack of availability also makes us assume there might have been a recall that was not publicized; Wacom may have taken it off the market to either fix or apply the latest updates/technology to it, etc.

I would be EXTREMELY aggravated with Wacom if I got this and a new item was released. I wish they would just be public about the issues, but hell, even their FORUM is broken (I tried to register on it and after activating my account, the system told me repeatedly that I was using the wrong password to login, though I was cut and pasting it from the email)

Honesty is the best policy, Wacom, so what's going on?

[joeparis]

I tried a few places to buy one, most of the retailers that were selling it for less than Wacom's eShop. Most didn't have it in stock, and those who said they did were lying. I went on the forum for a minor rant and Wacom said that they are continually producing them but they are being sold or delivered elsewhere immediately.

I eventually ordered from Amazon at full price, expecting a long wait, but it arrived after three weeks. They are still in stock there. Couldn't be happier.

[AegisKleais]

I tried a few places to buy one, most of the retailers that were selling it for less than Wacom's eShop. Most didn't have it in stock, and those who said they did were lying. I went on the forum for a minor rant and Wacom said that they are continually producing them but they are being sold or delivered elsewhere immediately.

I eventually ordered from Amazon at full price, expecting a long wait, but it arrived after three weeks. They are still in stock there. Couldn't be happier.

That's odd. In the 2-3 weeks I was CONSTANTLY searching online for retailers who had the product, easily 90% of them offered it at a price that was WORSE than Wacom's $1999 MSRP.

Amazon was the worst. I couldn't count how many links kept taking me back to an Amazon 21UX DTK-2100 that was being sold for $2700. I finally settled on Corel.com simply because a 15% off coupon worked on it, and they were offering it "on sale" for the MSRP (funny how a lot of retailers do this, saying it was $2299 - $300 = $1999, but $1999 is what the mfg. recommends selling at)

A Wacom rep told me to hang in there, so I'm trying to be patient. I'm just very eager to get and use this thing. My warranty is not gonna start until I take delivery of this thing, otherwise it may be months of "used warranty" just waiting for it to be delivered.

Needless to say, I check the status of the order multiple times a day, every day.

[jimmy1]

I believe Wacom when they say there is a stock shortage on parts and demand is definately high among the people I speak to. There is so much new tech being developed across the globe so demand is high for materials & components (Tablets, laptops, Mobile Phones etc).

Also alot of precious materials / metals come from China and they are reducing export of these. Just my opinion......


Oh and in the UK Smart Images seem to keep getting stock (I dont work for them but have purchased from them, got my Cintiq 21UX 2010 in December).

[Metric]

Just noticed that newegg just got some more back in stock, but newegg always seems to be selling the 21ux at over manufacture recommended value. Currently they are selling it for $2599.

Still, other stores are still saying 1-2 months, or 2 - 3 months for arrival. That is including amazon, which lists it at $1999 coming directly from amazon.

Really looking forward to getting one myself, but I would prefer to only pay the $1999 price tag.

[AegisKleais]

I would love to know if Wacom pulled stock and was working on, say, an A01 revision of the DTK-2100 (2010 21UX) that addressed things people are most concerned about with the product (like screen brightness/quality and adding a scratch-resistant glass).

But Wacom has taken a silent approach here (something that has almost always been indicative of a major problem)

Though I've bought many a thing from NewEgg before, because of their great selection and price, this $600 over MSRP is a slap in their own face. This was the issue with the majority of people selling the 21UX, but I've found that now (aside from NewEgg), most vendors who are listing the item for sale not only say it's backordered, but sell it for the MSRP (the worst are those who sell $2299 + $300 off on "sale" for $1999), which is just $300 over MSRP.

Still, this gives me a sick feeling in my stomach. Wacom really has no competition (though this is the perfect time to knock Wacom off their feet due to these shortages and inabilities to meet even minimal request, let alone any "demand").

Wacom hasn't had any news on their front page for over a month.

[AegisKleais]

Posted today from Wacom Website via a cryptic why-the-heck-would-they-release-something-akin-to-an-internal-business-memo-to-the-public PDF:

"For the LCD tablet business, "Cintiq 21UX" for the professional graphics market continues to receive a strong industry reputation but is unable to keep pace with orders due to the tight supplies of high definition LCD panels with a backlog of orders globally. As a result, LCD Tablets remained with a slight sales increase. Geographically, in the U.S., sales showed steady growth owing to the continuous demand for consumer products in the Xmas season and the rapid increase of Signature Tablets in the security field. In EU, difficult economic conditions continue in Southern Europe due to the impact of the financial crisis. The Tablet business was significantly influenced by the Euro’s depreciation despite steady sales based on local currency. In Japan, sales decreased due to the concentrated demand for specific products such as TVs which are available
in the eco-point system for home electronics in retailers. In Asia and Oceania, sales grew favorably, especially in China and Korea as well as India, in a rapid expansion market.

As a result, the Tablet business FY10 3Q sales ended at ¥20.14bn, and operating profit was ¥4.39mn."

What was said about Intuos4 (not cited here) was that it was maintaining sales, but here they just say the 21UX is maintaining reputation (which suggests sales aren't up to snuff, probably due to the shortage)

But what confuses me is that they say the shortage is due to the lack of quality LCD screens. One of the major concerns people have had with the Cintiq is the fact that it's screen really isn't quality for the price people are paying. The quality and brightness, as I have previously mentioned, are sub-standard for that price bracket. This makes me wonder if they are addressing this in a hardware revision (ie, A01 version of the DTK-2100).

I'm not sure what to make of this, it talks more like a financial report for investors than something they should have released publicly (many times the big wigs at corporate force the web team to release this information, though it isn't a eloquent as a properly written news article)

[Metric]

Posted today from Wacom Website via a cryptic why-the-heck-would-they-release-something-akin-to-an-internal-business-memo-to-the-public PDF:

"For the LCD tablet business, "Cintiq 21UX" for the professional graphics market continues to receive a strong industry reputation but is unable to keep pace with orders due to the tight supplies of high definition LCD panels with a backlog of orders globally. As a result, LCD Tablets remained with a slight sales increase. Geographically, in the U.S., sales showed steady growth owing to the continuous demand for consumer products in the Xmas season and the rapid increase of Signature Tablets in the security field. In EU, difficult economic conditions continue in Southern Europe due to the impact of the financial crisis. The Tablet business was significantly influenced by the Euro’s depreciation despite steady sales based on local currency. In Japan, sales decreased due to the concentrated demand for specific products such as TVs which are available
in the eco-point system for home electronics in retailers. In Asia and Oceania, sales grew favorably, especially in China and Korea as well as India, in a rapid expansion market.

As a result, the Tablet business FY10 3Q sales ended at ¥20.14bn, and operating profit was ¥4.39mn."

What was said about Intuos4 (not cited here) was that it was maintaining sales, but here they just say the 21UX is maintaining reputation (which suggests sales aren't up to snuff, probably due to the shortage)

But what confuses me is that they say the shortage is due to the lack of quality LCD screens. One of the major concerns people have had with the Cintiq is the fact that it's screen really isn't quality for the price people are paying. The quality and brightness, as I have previously mentioned, are sub-standard for that price bracket. This makes me wonder if they are addressing this in a hardware revision (ie, A01 version of the DTK-2100).

I'm not sure what to make of this, it talks more like a financial report for investors than something they should have released publicly (many times the big wigs at corporate force the web team to release this information, though it isn't a eloquent as a properly written news article)

Well that does make you go hmmm, and scratch your chin.

[Metric]

Just browsing around today to see if any stores had any cintiq 21ux dtk2100 in stock today, and found several new stores claiming in stock (that previously said out of stock).

Over at Amazon, there is another merchant with 8 dtk2100 in stock and they are selling for $2,199. Newegg still says in stock, but still charging $2,599 for it. The company Pictureline (Which is an official wacom cintiq retailer) now says they have the cintiq 21ux dtk 2100 in stock for $1999 price tag. Next up is the buydig.com (also an official wacom reseller) now saying they have the dtk2100 in stock for $1999 price tag. Finally, J&R (another official wacom reseller) lists the dtk2100 as being in stock, but available online only for the price of $1999.

So, in conclusion it looks like places are now getting more tablets in stock, even though there appeared to be a shortage.

Disclaimer: official wacom reseller is referred to as official, because of listing on wacoms site under where to buy. I do not claim to know what their service is like, and what sort of customer support they have.

P.S. I still wonder about that news release by wacom, and if they will be releasing a new tablet in a few months. It would sort of piss me off if I bought one now for $1999, but then they released a new one 2-3 months later.

[AegisKleais]

I would be infuriated if they released an update to the hardware especially if it was to address the 1 thing which seems to be the unanimous con to the overwhelmingly positives of the 21UX, the screen quality/brightness.

It's nice to see them getting back in stock, and again, to have a DTK-2100 doesn't mean it's the "base 2010 model with the sub-standard screen", this wouldn't be a model change but instead would be a hardware revision, so it would be the DTK-2100 but revision A01 or greater. (assuming the base model is A00).

Dell had an issue with their 2007WFP a while back and they had to go all the way to A04 before they finally fixed the issue. All the while the model stayed "2007WFP".

But again, I would want Wacom letting the consumer know if this was in the works. I'm gonna go look around at some resellers (the one I bought from, Corel, is a brand name, but not an official reseller).

Many of the MFG's I'm seeing so far say "Shipped directly from manufacturer" for stock status. This more than likely is the nice way of saying "We don't have one, but we ship from the MFG so when they get one, you'll get it". Problem is Wacom already stated on their forums that they'd be giving product out to resellers before they'd have it available in-house.

[Metric]

On the ones I listed above, none said they were being shipped direct from manufacture. Instead they implied that it would ship 1-2 days from them. (Don't know about the Amazon merchant one though).

I also looked at some of the ones that said ship directly from manufacture, but all of those had the Back-ordered status still.

[AegisKleais]

Logically, to a consumer, Wacom would advertise "The 21UX DTK2100 A01 with newer, brighter, higher quality screen all for the same $1999 MSRP", but I've seen many an entity do things that made no logical sense. (American Government, anyone?)

It seems like Wacom may have gotten some stock into their resellers. But until I can get one at a reseller who marks it in stock for the same price I got it from Corel ($300 less than MSRP), I'm gonna just have to be patient and hope Corel, as a big name company, will get stock soon.

[AegisKleais]

Cintiq Resellers => http://www.wacom.com/wheretobuy/cintiq.php

Of those listed for the USA:

Call for Stock = 6
In Stock = 2
Backorderd / Out of Stock = 6

The rest didn't provide stock/ordering information whatsoever. 1 even had it listed for "Preorder" (marked him as "Backordered")

[Metric]

Also, sometimes some of the regular http://www.wacom.com/wheretobuy/ vendors also carry cintiqs, at least in the U.S. For example, Amazon, Newegg, buydig.com, and J&R.

[AegisKleais]

The Wacom forums/community site has been down for a couple days now...

2-3 more months or waiting Aegis, you can do it...

[joeparis]

The Wacom forums/community site has been down for a couple days now...

Still up and going strong in Europe.

[Metric]

The Wacom forums/community site has been down for a couple days now...

2-3 more months or waiting Aegis, you can do it...

I know how you feel. I have been saving for over 1 year to get one. I finally took the plunge this morning an ordered one from a New York based company that had them in stock. Got it for the $1999 price plus 2 day shipping cost. Should be here Thursday .

I have decided that even if a new version comes out, it very well could cost even more for it. Also, knowing how technology works. Everything is considered out dated the minute it is released, especially in the PC world. In all seriousness, it doesn't look like Wacom is planning on releasing a new version this year. Knowing how most companies operate (Looking at you Adobe and Corel), they usually don't release new software / hardware but every 2 years. The Intous4 and the redesigned Cintiq, have only been out since 2010. So, they have another year on their life span.

I am also getting tired of my Intous 3 9x12, which has developed a weird problem. The problem is that when turning the pen from eraser to tip or tip to eraser, sometimes the tablet will not detect the pen at all. Even so sometimes the tablet won't detect the pen when first trying to touch it after being off of it awhile. I almost wonder if it doesn't have something to do with the latest drivers. Plus I got spoiled by using a friends old 20wx Cintiq for awhile XD.

[AegisKleais]

Congrats on the purchase.

I bought mine from Corel on Jan 2nd, 2011 because (a) they are a brand name (was tired of seeing sites like RobuBlind.com offering it for $1800), also (b) they had a coupon which took 15% off your order (taking their "sale" price of 1999.99 down to 1699.99) and (c) their FedEx 2 day shipping was only $15, making the total $1714.00.

Thing is, their site says 12-14 weeks ESTIMATED (could be worse than this) If they hold true to their estimate, then the latest I'll wait is mid-April. Still. For having ordered something at the beginning of the year, that's a horrible availability.

I'm so eager to get into this thing, and have thought about cancelling the order and buying it at retail just to at least know when I'm getting it, but I'll be patient. Even with the less than expected screen quality, everyone I've talked to who got one LOVES the thing.

Thing is, my warranty is NOT starting until I take delivery of this thing. It's not fair to lose 3+ months of a warranty because of poor product availability.

@joeparis-

Ah, must just be the US version that's down. Getting APACHE-based errors; looks like quite the fustercluck.

[Metric]

Congrats on the purchase.

I bought mine from Corel on Jan 2nd, 2011 because (a) they are a brand name (was tired of seeing sites like RobuBlind.com offering it for $1800), also (b) they had a coupon which took 15% off your order (taking their "sale" price of 1999.99 down to 1699.99) and (c) their FedEx 2 day shipping was only $15, making the total $1714.00.

Thing is, their site says 12-14 weeks ESTIMATED (could be worse than this) If they hold true to their estimate, then the latest I'll wait is mid-April. Still. For having ordered something at the beginning of the year, that's a horrible availability.

I'm so eager to get into this thing, and have thought about cancelling the order and buying it at retail just to at least know when I'm getting it, but I'll be patient. Even with the less than expected screen quality, everyone I've talked to who got one LOVES the thing.

Thing is, my warranty is NOT starting until I take delivery of this thing. It's not fair to lose 3+ months of a warranty because of poor product availability.

@joeparis-

Ah, must just be the US version that's down. Getting APACHE-based errors; looks like quite the fustercluck.

Well, technically they could also get some in sooner. It is just that Wacom has given them an estimate, which more than likely is over estimated on purpose in order to allow for some delays.

I know doing web dev stuff and design, I usually over estimate the time required to finish it. However, I do tell the customer that it may be finished sooner. Most of the time, I do finish before the estimated time, and the customer is always pleased that it finished earlier than estimated.

It is one of those mind game tricks type situations. Technically it could take 12-14 weeks, or it could arrive sooner if the components become available sooner.

You can also think of 3-5 day shipping, that is an estimate of shipping time, but sometimes it can be longer due to unforeseeable circumstances. It can also come earlier than 3-5 days depending on your location from the warehouse it was shipped from. For example, I order a student edition of Autodesk 2011 enterainment suite for this college semester, and I picked the 3-5 day shipping. Ordered it at 12am Friday night, but it did not ship till Monday morning. However, due to my closeness to the warehouse I received it the next day on Tuesday.

[Rock21]

Wow nice savings! I guess you were really lucky AegisKleais, because I tried that too and I wasn't able to get that 15% discount.

They did though offer 20 bucks off and free 2-day shipping ($1979).

Did you use some different code or did you just get it before they figured out what they were doing? Which coupon did you use?

[T.McCaw]

Watcom is a registered exhibitor at Siggraph this summer in Vancouver British Columbia....are they going to have something to show us?

Tom

[9000HAL]

Hi, I'm new to the forum doing a search for where to find and what type of cotton gloves to use with my Cintiq, and stumbled upon this thread... my story:

I couldn't wait for the Cintiq to come back in stock... I was watching both B&H and Amazon neither of which had them in stock. So I broke down and placed my order with Amazon on Feb 23, 2011 with a expected delivery date of May 15th!!! And out of curiosity at the same time I registered at B&H to be notified when they will get them in stock (still haven't heard from them). With the thinking that if B&H got any in stock I would cancel my Amazon order and bite the bullet on shipping and go through B&H.

So on March 7, 2011 I received an email from Amazon saying my Cintiq has shipped!!!! Low and behold my (new) Cintiq arrived on March 9th (less than 2 1/2 weeks since I placed my order) and a full two and a half months earlier than the original estimated delivery date! It was shipped from Arizona directly from Amazon. With a manufactured date of Feb 2011 smoking hot off of the assembly line.

So, slightly off topic, I've done a search with no specific results... what type of cotton gloves do you guys use? I hate the smudges I'm getting on the screen any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[inkdrop]

http://www.smudgeguard.com/

[Metric]

I also highly recommend smudgeguards. I have 2 of them, one for my Cintiq, and one for traditional drawing. Works great for both of them.

[AegisKleais]

My Cintiq was mfg'd in Jan 2011, so it's nice knowing you got one right off the press; I have my Smudge Guard 2 as well and am waiting for an Ergotron LX desk mount arm to come in to complete my setup.

[Aksel Ludvigsen]

Well, now you guys got me worried. I was thinking about saving up for one when I get back to Norway and figured I'd get someone I know to buy one for me in the US (I know people who travel there frequently on business), since the official euro price is 2800 USD (1999 EUR). But if they are out of stock it might be hard to get a hold of one if he's just staying for a week or two.

Of course, I also have the dilemma of waiting to see if they release a new model/revision.

Darn it, guys. I was so happy in my ignorance.

[AegisKleais]

I got in an Ergotron LX monitor arm yesterday. Gonna get the Cintiq attached to it on Friday—I can't wait! Gonna do a nice clean up on the office and make sure I got everything where I want it to be.

[James Thornton]

The supply problem is demand. A small percentage of digital artists actually invest in a Cintiq. However, they have a monopoly, no competition. One company supplying the world! Just Asia, Europe, and the Americas is huge.

CoolGraphicStuff.com delivered in a month last summer. Wacom is who referred me to them, so it's a legit.

I hope they do come out with a new Cintiq, or two. One that can fit in a laptop bag with one simple cord & a big one with an hd screen.

btw you will enjoy the ergotron lx, but it can be slightly wobbly. I prefer the 21ux on the default stand. If the desk height isn't spot on, buy an adjustable stool. However, 12wx on the neo flex arm is great. Definitely a weight thing, 21ux is hefty.