Q900 all band, all mode ,transceiver

This version 3 Q900 transceiver from China looks like the FT817 replacement we never had. It is also much less expensive and is SDR based.  It is also much smaller than it looks.

Yaesu, you have had your chances, but never took them in the run up to solar peak 24 and now 25. Instead, Yaesu messes around with a 100W SDR radio that looks like the one they only recently introduced!! 

Yaesu, have you really lost the plot? 

We could all be forgiven for thinking this.  I used to like Yaesu radios. In recent years, I am really not so impressed.

Like all things from China my feeling is the quality control and support are still not proven. They will get there soon and this may be it.

Lower cost amateur radio products are coming and the big Japanese manufacturers are in for a large shock. The writing is on the wall. I give it a few years only. Certainly when we are in cycle 26 things will look very different indeed. Some of the companies we have known for decades will be gone and there will be new names.

Q900 QRP rig

The IC-705 already has a Chinese competitor at about one third of the price according to DXzone.com. Pretty sure this is genuine.

It surprises me that we have not seen many more Chinese radios yet. Once they get the quality right, they will undercut the Japanese big time.

See https://www.dxzone.com/q900-sdr-transceiver

UPDATE 2100z: You get the feeling this is a "test the market" prototype. At least one YouTube review is raising questions. For now, I have sufficient doubts not to buy one. In time, the Chinese could become a big threat to the Japanese manufacturers, but not yet.