As far as to ham radio dying out, I don't think so given what I read, see and know about. I suppose it could depend on one's perspective. I've had very good luck with my Yaesu radios from both a railfan's standpoint to that of being a ham. If the ICOM brand is such a good radio to have, why then do I find more ICOM equipment for sale than nearly any other brand. The comparison to either Kenwood Yaesu equipment shows very little of these brands for sale. Wozsun is an early contender and Alinco is exactly popular amongst the amatuer crowd. Both are there, but not in the huge numbers unlike Kenwood and Yaesu.

My first radio was the FT-1802M and I still have it along with several other Yaesu radios. Prior to becoming a ham, I had very good results using the 1802 radio. The only downside to the RR frequencies is the shift over to the narrow band and eventually to the very narrow band. Place a good deal of the "why" on the cell phone industry needing more spectrum and bandwidth. But ham radio prevails when no other means of communications exists - the Sandy Superstorm that wiped out the cell service. But those anateur operators, they prevailed!