Well, first of all CONGRATULATIONS to the corona team! I work in product development and know the huge deal something like this is, and how different is from what the rest of the world can percieve. You will get a lot of hate, no doubt, you will be called sellouts, stupid, traitors etc... Don't listen to that shit. You should be very proud!
Now, as a user, I have to confess I'm a little bit nervous, while I believe you made this deal with the best intentions and the interest of users at heart, it is very difficult to do right by that intention. I won't pretend to know what is your specific vision, and what are your secret awesome plans... I wish this is one of the few cases in which an acquisition results in better products and more innovation (human nature says it wont).
I hope you can soon share with us some of your specific future plans and end game, as the blog statements are very vague and really could mean anything, or at least are vague enough that they can change at any time.
Future plans for both companies will 100% for sure have to change dramatically, would be interesting to know a little bit on how.
You certainly took a big chink of customers from V-ray in the archviz market and probably were planning on going after other markets as well. As Corona is CHEAPER than Vray by a significant amount (even if it's very profitable), it absolutely doesn't make sense to allow Corona to gain any more ground now, or keep prices the same.
I agree that Corona and Vray have different DNAs, but the market forced Corona to compete with Vray and therefore increase the overlap between the two. I would love to know, now that you are under the same roof and the plan is (probably) to fully express this DNA without worrying about competing, what market do you want to tackle with full force?
Congratulations and remember to be mindful about your dreams and passion, as those vanish slowly without you noticing, don't allow that to happen to you! I've seen it too many times.