j'y reviens encore: si tu veux te procurer du neo, ne tarde pas trop. a priori, les prix risquent d'augmenter à vitesse grand V s'il on en croit Mr bergantino..
from Jim Bergantino:
And finally, some concerning news I just received yesterday regarding the pricing on neodymium woofers. Eminence, our woofer supplier (and all speaker manufacturers for that matter) was just hit in the last week with a 106% increase on the cost of neo magnets used in their neo woofers (I have provided some links below for those who would like to read more about the uncertainty in the rare earth markets, especially as it pertains to China, the worlds only current producer of neo magnets). This along with another increase as recent as the beginning of this year has brought the year-to-date increase in neo to 140%! And it's only going up from here. In fact, the market is so unstable at this point that Eminence can only quote prices to their OEM's on a per order basis, and the price quote is only valid for 24 hours! This is a far cry from their yearly price adjustments. In addition, due also to the fact that China is reducing exports of their neo magnets and other rare earth materials by over 60% means longer lead times without any guarantees. How does this effect us and ultimately our dealers and their customers? As of today vs. last week, the cost of our neo woofers have gone up 40%, and that's today's prices. Tomorrow could be higher and next week even higher. No one knows. I have also learned from Eminence that most of their existing neo-based projects, whether their own Genuine Eminence line or their OEM's projects, are either being canceled or put on hold until companies see where this is heading. Many companies have already started the transition back to ceramic. So where do we stand in all this? I'm still trying to process all the data which is difficult in a very dynamic environment. I do know this, that based on the prices I was quoted today, it would be very difficult to justify passing these increases along to our dealers and finally to your customers. I think we're at the tipping point of neo and believe there is a very good chance you will see our industry revert back to ceramic at an alarming rate. My opinion of course, but based on what I have learned in the last day or so and from what I'm hearing from my sources within Eminence, I think it's only a matter of time when where back to pre 2001 technology.
En gros ça veut dire que le prix des aimants NEO farbiqué quasi exclusivement par les chinois est entrain de flamber, et que certaines compagnies ont deja enclenché le mouvement vers le retour aux aimants céramiques... 
