It would be very interesting to see some objective data here such as total number of newly produced pinball units per year for the past 20 years.

Good discussion.
I doubt the tally of annual new production units has increased over time; more likely the trend has been downward when grouped decade by decade at least?

The sustainable solution would be to call more people into the hobby and honestly if prices need to come down to enable more families to gain access then that might be the best situation for long term health of the industry.

Cost of maintenance and repair for these machines tends to increase over time. Symmetrically, I think we should expect a reasonable depreciation schedule. Very few are legitimate collector items.

Keep striving to make the industry relevant to the young families out there. Parents need to play with their children and enjoy the experience together. Otherwise good luck competing with whatever Fortnites and VR immersive games are going to be commonplace for the next generation.

This is my second post today and ever actually so I feel like I'm really nailing this couch expert thing.
Cheers
Cullen