What a strange reply. Of course I fully realize that synth companies exist...why on earth would you feel the need to point that out? I simply expressed surprise that they do, and gave my own reason why they do: that people like to impress others with their cool looking synth cockpits and keyboards. That, I think, is still the most likely answer, since they don't offer anything sonically (in fact, offer much less for the money) beyond software synths.
Right, I'm saying that is incorrect. Very incorrect.
Some people do buy synths as sort of an art piece but they are rare
Hardware synths absolutely still do have sonic capabilities that are difficult to emulate in software (we're getting to that crossover point, but it's still some ways away). Let's just assume that you're right and software can do anything hardware can...
Some of the critical factors that make hardware more enjoyable (and thus valuable) for a musician:
You don't HAVE to use your eyes. Don't underestimate what a huge part this plays. The context switch that you go through when switching from the largest part of the brain (visual processing) to audio is substantial. It removes you from flow state. Artists will pay high premiums to stay connected to what they are doing emotionally. Clicking a mouse on a computer is one of the fastest ways to get out of emotional flow. Hardware is one of the easiest to stay in flow.
Physical performance. Just because you can do something with a mouse and values doesn't mean it's easy to do something that you would hear a human doing in a performance. It is far, FAR easier to just... perform it. Eventually we'll have humanization algorithms that blur this but again, we aren't there yet.
Software is also far, FAR too flexible for many musicians. The design of software often times gets you out of the sweet spot of the instrument. Typically when you buy well designed hardware you can't do anything that makes it sound bad. That's a magical thing. Typically in software you can make a sound EXCELLENT (often extremely excellent) but it takes a ton of work to get there. Different ways of doing music.
There are a lot more things I could go into but those are a few of the big ones
