I think this is really crazy. As much as I love LV, I will soon stop buying their bags if this continues. Either that or I will only purchase on ebay for a substantial discount.
I think LV thinks that because they have lower starting points than some other designer bags they can catch up without losing market share. However, I think the reason LV is so popular is because people have been able to afford the Speedy and then go on from there. Now they are pricing a lot of people out of the Speedy market. Not a good idea.