I'll PM you, with that info.
I started with a major telecommunications co. in 1985.
Doing circuit board design and reverse engineering.
I would take a competitors office phone system, disassemble it and go over it component by component, to determine how much it cost them to manufacture.
I found out then, just how nebulous MSRP was.
The issue of price is a knife that cuts both ways, I'm afraid.
In a recession, OPPO (or any company for that matter) would be foolish to stick to full MSRP.
A product may have a potential to make the full 50% mark-up; but if that product sits, unsold in a warehouse, it's worth near nothing.
Better to sell it at 20% profit, than not at all.
Not every company has a grossly inflated MSRP. Sure, Oppo will be making a profit at whatever price they set; that is, after all, the whole point of being in business. You can be sure that they will not drop the price to lose money so that they can please people who are accustomed to MSRP being just some arbitrarily high number. Their flagship DVD player, which sold for about $400, was independently tested and rated to be
better than DVD players that cost
several thousand dollars. If you think paying MSRP is a bad deal for such a player, then don't buy. Go ahead and buy on sale at half price someone else's crappy player that retails for many times more that isn't as good.
With Oppo, the MSRP is a reasonable price, not some inflated number used as a marketing gimmick to con people into believing it is better than it is. With Oppo, the price is the price. If you want to get a lessor player, feel free to buy a lessor player. If you want to "get a deal" on a player that has an inflated MSRP, go ahead. Just remember, at the end of the day, the bang for the buck is what counts, not how much off "MSRP" one pays.
Oppo will stick to MSRP because they put out a product that is better than anything else you can buy for the same dollars as a "street price" for other brands. If you don't agree, then don't buy an Oppo.