Quote:
Originally Posted by ShellShock
I imagine that if IREX sold at a loss then they would quickly be bankrupt--you need deep pockets for that kind of agressive marketing--like Microsoft, who I believe have subsidised hardware in the past (XBox etc).
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Yes but it either has to be a commodity like a pc and you sell a jillion of them or you make your money on content; kind of like getting the razor handle for practically free so you buy thier refills. My point is I do not see the long term economic sucess of this device based on hardware only. It is my ascertion that they should have had a better content system or partnership online before they released the device.
Raising the price on an already overpriced specialty item does not seem to be the way to penetrate the market place.
In terms of my apple comment, you may hate them but you can not argue with sucesss as people queue up in line to wait for thier next product. They can charge a premium for thier ipods, because they have a well thought out and comprehensive content distribution channel that locks thier customers to thier hardware (Itunes)
THe announcement today of Itunes going DRM free is a brilliant move becuase they have such a large market share that they took away thier competitors only differentiator.
Bottom line is that $860 is to much money without a good content hook. The only differentiator is the larger screen for PDF viewing, but i think that market is to small (even though I am one of them) to support the device long term