Of the thousands of manufacturers at the peak around 1900, only a few dozen remain today. This consolidation is not yet complete. Of the big names, all of which were founded around 1850, some are still successfully active after 170 years, such as Steinway & Sons and C. Bechstein. Yamaha has also been building pianos for 120 years. Only rarely does anyone else enter the production process from scratch, like Fazioli.

Due to generational and ownership changes, it is not uncommon to find completely different companies behind names that are still known today, and also completely different manufacturing methods than the name suggests. Different brands all come from the same factories. Individuality in piano construction is hardly to be found today, as too few buyers appreciate it. In the past, not necessarily better pianos were built - more time and individuality was simply invested in the instruments and this was sold to solvent buyers in less globally dominated markets.

Less than half a million new acoustic uprights and grand pianos are now manufactured worldwide every year. The market leader is Yamaha. It is estimated that approximately >90% of the instruments built each year are manufactured in China and other Asian countries. In Germany, according to the manufacturer's data, about 7,000 new uprights and grand pianos are manufactured annually - of which well over ~50% are exported.

The demand for pianos has not shifted in favor of digital pianos, but has fallen so extremely compared to earlier times. In addition, and as a result, there is a huge oversupply of used pianos.