I too, love my Webers - always have and always will - they are rock solid and do what they are supposed to do.
I can't help but speculate what goes through the minds of marketing folks, especially these days when they all come from B-Schools and rarely have ANY experience in the real world let alone the industry they are entering. This is not limited to grills, etc. Witness what happened to Char-Broil when the "kids" took over.
I worry about excellent companies like Weber. The "older generation" of marketing folks (probably no MBA's, but they knew their customers) understood the realities of the market and where they belonged. The newer generation, MBAs raised on spreadsheets, build plans that support their numbers (not necessarily DELIVER them...)
The Big Green Egg owner / prospect is much like the Apple Fan Boy, price is not the issue - the appeal of the product is beyond simple price / performance issues. It approaches a cult environment. There are examples in many industries. In the computer industry Alienware developed killer computers and laptops, far outstripping anything Apple could do. But they did not make a dent in Apple's market share - pure performance was not the issue for the typical Apple buyer - it was the aura of the Apple brand. I think the Egg is very similar.
I still believe Weber missed the plot. I am convinced with their manufacturing capabilities, support, etc. they could have OWNED the average to mid-high end of the Kamado market. Let the Egg have the much smaller premium market - do like they have done with the basic kettle, portable, and gas range. There will always be Eggs, Hasty Bakes, Tragers, etc. You don't have to take them all on - take the segment that has the largest number of buyers.
Stepping down from marketing soap box...
