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> > Now I agree that what we want is a smaller drive for our notebook
> > machines--in a 2.5" factor, and I don't argue that it would typically cost
> > more--but at nearly $1,795, 5 to 6 TIMES as much?
> As much as we'd all like to buy 1.2 gig notebook hard disks for rock
> bottom prices direct from IBM the minute they roll out of the research
> labs, I don't think their decision not to get into this type of
> commodity market constitutes marketing ineptitude. For quite a few
> people these prices are worth paying. For those of us who can't
> afford them, IBM is prudent enough to let us wait a month or two.
Who said anything about commodity pricing? I granted a 2 to 3
times the commodity multiple for the specialty notebook product--IBM is
asking 5 to 6 times. The only reason there are people that actually
*pay* that outrageous price is because they are forced to--they have
no other option. As IBM has shown us with our 170 and 340 MB drives,
3rd parties aren't an option (at least not until a year or two later).
They make something weird--2 mm different in height than all the rest on
the market or put a funky plastic case on it that you can't get anywhere\else, etc.
>if you think this is a mistake you should check IBM's recent quarterly
> reports to its stockholders.
I will remind you that IBM's PC-direct division has made its
turnaround in the past couple of years due to two items: (1) FINALLY
setting normal, non-predatory prices on their desktop PC's which are on
par with the other PC makers (though, like Compaq--which lowered its own
prices--still a bit higher than their clone surroundings) and (2) certain
proprietary technologies/features that make the ThinkPad series as great
as it is. Hence, the unique featuers make it enough of a value-added
package to justify the premium--but even then, it is a premium of
perhaps 2 (maybe 3, in some cases) times the cost of the "commodity"
notebook machines, not 5 or 6 times--and also fairly on par with its
premium competitors like Toshiba.
----- ____________________________
Randy Whittle whittle@usc.edu | Making South-Central |
USC Graduate School of Business (Fight on 'SC!)| L.A. a better place by |
-Counselor, USC Business Expansion Network | helping small businesses |
| help themselves. |
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