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Old 02-26-2010, 04:30 AM   #32
mgmueller
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Posts: 3,308
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Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Augsburg (near Munich), Germany
Device: 26 Readers, 44 Tablets
Quote:
Originally Posted by Estuche View Post
mgmueller,

I never thought you were such an advocate for the QUE, I think this is one of the threads were you have posted more consecutive responses!! By the way thanks for making the correction about profit, although guided by your calculations I still think Jobs is making a lot of cash out of the iPad, especially the higher end models ($346 to build, $829 retail price). So the gross profit for the most expensive model would be around 58% right?. Since you seem to dig these kind of data here's a reliable source of information: http://www.isuppli.com/News/Pages/Mi...Estimates.aspx

I have to disagree with the price of the QUE being justifiable. Perhaps two months ago it made sense when the Kindle DX was the only option around, as it is indeed the market that set prices, but not now when you have soooo many competing products that have similar features and cost way less (Notion Ink Adam, Asus DR-950, Jinke A9, Samsung E101, Entourage Edge, and of course, the mighty iPad, just to name a few). Perhaps I am plain ignorant or I just value too much my money but paying $800 for a QUE is simply unreasonable (unless it has a hidden feature that brings me breakfast to bed Even when the Asus DR-950 has less features, when priced at $350 it sounds quite appealing to me, but then again, maybe I am not the target market for PL.

Moreover with the iPad offering many business related apps including an iWork version for the iPad (and rumors that there will also be a MS office version) plus as you mention all the extra content that can be acquired though the apple store I very much doubt the black and white, slow refresh, $800 QUE will be able to survive the competing market once it is finally released. Like I said Jobs just sent all these greedy companies a strong message and the only ones that benefit are the customers. Now don't get me wrong, I think the QUE reader is a fantastic piece of hardware, it is simply not justified in terms of price relative to the competition, especially if you do an objective cost/benefit analysis. Then again, to each their own so to all three people out there who are planning on getting one I am sure you will be pleased with the outcome

PS: just being silly, not trying to be offensive!
Estuche,

considering the pricing of Que, I've got a simple reference calculation: iRex 800S(G).
It seems to be relatively successful. "Relative" depending on the reference figures. Apple (or maybe even Sony or Amazon) might consider sales figures of iRex 800 mediocre at best. But for a (again, relatively) small company like iRex I guess we can consider the huge response (at least in this forum) a success (assuming it kind of reflects the sales figures). But with a smaller display as iPad and (as the other eInk readers) significantly less options, there shouldn't be any room left for such a niche product (and niche manufacturer). But still, it seems to be the most successful iRex product so far.

Quite frankly, I'm not even a big fan of Que or Skiff. Those seem to be great units, but personally I don't really have any demand for units that big. I already don't use my Kindle DX or iRex 1000S: Difficult to find a comfortable reading position and difficult to transport when traveling.
But we always have to consider the target revenues of such units/companies.

And to use another reference figure: Not so many years ago, Apple Macs have been in a similar niche. Sales figures of Apple hardware back then (and even now) for HP or Dell would have been disastrous.
Or take iPhone: With iPhones sales figures, other manufacturers went bankrupt and did drop the business. But again, their overhead was bigger and their target revenue couldn't be met, whereas Apple with its additional revenue (iTunes) and lower target settings has been more than fine.

Honestly, I'm a bit allergic, when some members aggressively and permanently rephrase, "Apple has sent a strong message and killed all the market potential" of such products. I'm pretty sure, those manufacturers have considered tablets and low cost products in their business model. And btw: It's not my company (neither Apple, nor the underdog), so why should I even care. But I recognise for some weeks now, that the undertone in some threads becomes more aggressive and in parallel the discussion less informed (not targeting at you, but some others of this very thread)...

Last edited by mgmueller; 02-26-2010 at 10:10 AM.
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