Manga price hikes

Hmm. It seems that several major manga publishers will be raising their prices in the immediate future, including Del Rey, Viz, and Dark Horse. Their books will now run $1 or $2 more per volume.

People have pointed out (quite correctly) that manga used to cost anywhere from $15 to $20 per volume, and the industry survived somehow. However, that was several years ago, when publishers released far fewer titles and the market was limited to devoted fans, not twelve-year-olds shelling out their allowances for the ten-millionth volume of Fruits Basket or Naruto. I'm not saying these price hikes will kill the industry, but I think they might lose more readers than they're bargaining for. After all, those twelve-year-olds are feeling the economic pinch, too, and I bet "But, Mom, my manga costs more!" isn't going to convince their cash-strapped parents to give them more spending money.