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Old 01-16-2008, 12:46 PM   #36
DMcCunney
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Jordan View Post
Very true. Laptops went through this, as designs (and especially screen technology) morphed and adjusted for more than a decade, and factories had to completely retool every 2-3 years. During that time, you couldn't get a new laptop for less than $2,000. Now that it has largely settled down, you can buy a new laptop for $500.

If we ever settle on an e-book reader architecture and technology that everyone uses, we should see the same economies of scale and price, and readers the size of the PRS-505 coming down to $1-200 (and color at $2-300).
Yep. And the effect ripples through the supply chain.

The factory that actually builds the Sony Reader, or the Kindle, or whichever, is doing final assembly. The component parts come from elsewhere, and the same factors apply to them. The pricing for the component parts is a major factor in the pricing for the completed device.

I believe, for example, that one choke point at the moment is the screens used. Supplies for those have to ramp up. I'd bet on problems sourcing components as part of the reason behind Kindle shortages. Amazon was rightly conservative in their forecasts when ordering the initial production run, but getting more isn't simply a matter of placing an additional order. The contractor who builds them must get the parts to do so, and may need to stand in line on some of them.
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