Nick,
It's no different here. Dealers need a constant supply of new cars or there won't be any used ones for them to sell either. You appear to be thinking along the lines of how the market "was" not how Ferrari are seeing it going forward. The world has changed. Why should they not channel supply into new, emerging markets in the far east where the economies are stronger and the potential for profits higher? This doesn't mean they will neglect the traditional markets entirely, merely that they will realign supply to make the brand more aspirational and exclusive again so that the price tag can rise to support fewer sales. If a few dealers drop by the wayside as a result I doubt that Ferrari will be gravely concerned.
We've already lost one main dealer here in the UK and I suspect at least two more will go in the not too distant future as there simply isn't a need to have the depth of coverage currently in place when you look at the allocation of new cars. I suspect there are areas of the US market where dealers could be culled as well.
You've already highlighted the fact that you can get the same performance for less $ from Porsche with the 997.2 tt. Ferrari know this and it costs a lot of money to seriously raise the performance level any higher. That requires cars of the stature of the Veyron and look at the cost of those. Porsche also know this and employ clever marketing to milk more money out of buyers with niche models within a niche (turbo - turbo S, GT3 - GT3 RS, GT2 - GT2 RS etc) that offer fractionally more power with modest performance gains but at a much higher price. Do the buyers of these cars really use or even notice the extra power gains or do they simply enjoy the status of owning the "best of breed" model??
There are a growing number of new entrants to Ferraris traditional market making it very crowded - R8, Aston Vantage V12, Mercedes AMG SLS, forthcoming Mclaren etc. On top of these new models you have to add in the explosion in sales of top of the line performance saloons - M5, RS6 etc - as these cars have also blown a hole in the real world performance figures of the exotics and added in a high degree of practicality, comfort and loads of tech gadgetry that some buyers are now demanding on exotics. If Ferrari stay as they are they simply become an option on a widening shopping list, not perceived as being the top aspirational brand they used to enjoy.
Like it or not brand is the way forward now that the technical playing field has been levelled. If you can't charge more for performance you simply charge more because of the brand's desirability factory and reduce supply. The watch market is a close parallel. Why spend six or seven figure sums on a watch when a basic $50 one can tell the time accurately enough for most buyers needs?