Brother discontinued electronic typewriters here in the UK about three years ago.  At first they said that the factory in Wales that had been assembling them from Japanese parts was going to make toner cartridges instead but that imports of typewriters would still continue from the 'Far East'.  However, within months, the machines had disappeared from the Brother UK website and Brother UK had washed their hands of supplying spare parts.  The only volume maker of electronic typewriters is now Nakajima as far as I am aware.  Silver-Reed typewriters in the UK have been re-branded Nakajimas for some years now.

TypewriterKing wrote:

Anyone remember when Smith-Corona went out of business in 1995?  The last American brand...

Not true: Royal is still around, and still selling typewriters, even a manual called the Epoch. Granted it's the same Chinese-made Nakajima as you would get from Michael's, but in a modern case similar to my Olympia Carina 2 (http://typewriter.boardhost.com/viewtopic.php?pid=15799#p15799).
 

If enough interest could be stirred in typewriters then it seems to me there might be a niche market large enough to support one manufacturer - I am thinking a large portable as an introductory model, marketed to "serious writers and others who appreciate a fine mechanical writing instrument" - introductory price circa $1200.  Why would anybody pay this when an excellent used machine can be had for a faction?  Marketing. The new machines would be gleaming and mint and mechanically perfect, and would come with a meaningful warranty and a guarantee that spare parts would be available for a certain number of years. They would have to be very good - equal to the best of the fifties or sixties - but would come with that new typewriter smell (I've caught a few whiffs of that in portables that have been stored in their cases a long time barely used). And there would be factory service centers where the machine could be sent for service and overhaul plus a network of factory trained field techs for lighter repair or adjustment (could easily train copying machine and printer technicians for this job).

The major obstacle - beyond developing the market and finding sources of investment - is that the hands on know-how of people who actually designed and manufactured high quality typewriters is becoming extinct right now. It makes me want to buy a Royal Epoch just to help support some factory somewhere which is maintaining a little hands on experience, as something to grow on. Typewriters in the workplace are dead in the first world, but they could enjoy a second life as fine writing instruments.

TypewriterKing wrote:

And just how many writers are out there who actually use a typewriter in the process of writing the next best selling novel?

Probably more than you think, but not enough to support a fledgling typewriter manufacturer. 

TypewriterKing wrote:

They would have to retype the whole thing onto a computer before they get it to a publisher.

Actually, they don't. I write all of my initial drafts using a typewriter, and once it's ready for a final edit, which I do using a word processor, I simply scan the typed pages and use OCR software to create a digital copy of my text. It's simple and very fast.

P.S. Regarding the Epoch.  I checked it out an Amazon just now and it's hovering around $170.  I admit that's a very hard sell for me even given the motivation to show some support for whatever struggling remnant of the typewriter industry survives today - since I know what I could get for that price: like an SG-1 in near mint condition which could crush 10 Epochs before dashing off a "Dear Sir", scattering their plastic body parts. 

But what if I could buy a miraculously brand new SG-1 for the price I mentioned, one which I knew carried support for several years so there was no point in stocking spares. I would be seriously tempted to make space and budget to buy one, and I would at least want one whether or not I could afford it. Wouldn't you?