I think that unfortunately there are some unescapable problems they’re facing.
First of all, if we imagine it’s pretty much exactly the same as an Avid s1 then why would I buy the Yamaha instead of the s1? The s1 has Eucon which Pro Tools has and the Yamaha device probably wouldn’t have that. So why not just get the s1 and have deeper access to more DAWs including Pro Tools?
Secondly, if we imagine that it has deeper integration with Nuendo then the questions become a) what is it that you currently can’t do with Eucon that you want to do (i.e. in software), and b) how much more are you willing to pay for more tactile controls on the controller (i.e. hardware)?
With those considerations I’m just not sure how profitable it really is for Yamaha / Steinberg to develop something, mass produce, ship and sell it, and support it for at least a decade. As I mentioned in another recent thread these topics come up pretty regularly and the problem is always that users always think the device is ‘obvious’ in how it should be designed yet they always want something slightly different, and the pricing is always “a lot more for quite a bit less please”.
One way to think about it is to take all costs into account and then think of a way to make the device different from the rest and fit into the current market:
$550 - Behringer X-touch (8 faders)
$800 - Presonus Faderport 16 (16 faders, 1 rotary)
$1,500 - Avid s1 (8 faders, Eucon, Tablet expandable)
$5,000 - Avid s3 (16 faders, Eucon, Tablet expandable)
$10,000 - Nuage
$A car - Avid s4 and up…
Under the s1/Eucon it’s all MCU. So the question is; how much is Eucon worth? Take what you would like to pay for a non-Avid controller that’s laid out like the s1, add that number, and see if it’s $1,500. If it is, then just getting the s1 probably makes sense. If it’s lower then compare to other offerings and again consider what you’d like to see in that controller and if it’s financially viable, realistically.