This thing is soooo ugly! It looks more clunky than the Mk1 empeg, and at least that had a certain minimalistic charm.
I don't really see the point of a CD player if there's a hard-drive in there. Guess it's just for simplicity uploading MP3s, and I'm sure a lot of people will continue to want to play their CD's in-car despite having MP3 (I switched to MiniDiscs years ago...)
I reckon the empeg has/will launch multiple cheaper imitators, just as every great new invention does, and I won't be surprised if the crappy imitation brand outsells the original. But there will always be a market for people who know the difference and are prepared to pay for the best.
Empeg has nothing to worry about, at least not in my house!