Technology and Success, If The Price Is Right
Manufacturers know that they cannot release a new product without assessing how ready the market is to embrace something new. One limiting factor is the MSRP on launch. If a reasonable price cannot be met, the product just has to stay in the lab.
There are a lot of technologies already considered "solid" but cannot kick-off to market because it would be unprofitable to push them out if factors like feasibility and viability and R&D, manufacturing, packaging, marketing and distribution costs would make them overly expensive. At the end of the day, they just have to sell and make profit.
Consider the tablet PC. If you read through its history, the first patent for an electronic tablet goes back to year 1888. Despite popular adaptations in sci-fi books and movies, the tablet PC just started to truly pick up in the 21st century. Before Apple released the iPad
in 2010, touch screen computers were the more expensive mobile computer models around. Because of their steep price, they were often targeted for business users. Nowadays, tablet PCs are so common that they mostly compete by having the cheapest price possible while offering consumer-targeted value-added features and services.
On the other hand, the progress of some great technologies got stalled after losing to competition years ago. So when a new window of opportunity opens, reviving them means blowing the dusts off the drawing board and, well, starting all over again. That translates to new R&D costs and a whole new marketing plan/strategy.
Consider the electric car which history goes all the way back to the 1830s. They were considered to be luxury models in the 1900s. That "luxury" tag of course made them NOT for everyone. When Henry Ford
made internal combustion engine powered cars more affordable, electric cars peaked in 1912, to decline soon thereafter. Nowadays, there are many electric vehicles coming out again but the 100 years spent on the shelves have taken toll. The development of the infrastructure for electric vehicles got stalled, requiring various sectors to exert fresh efforts towards putting more electric vehicles on the road. In addition, just like 100 years ago, electric cars today are still considered luxury, the fact that they are still more expensive than their fueled counterparts.
For consumers, what's really important is that these technologies are affordable. Most manufacturers cannot target enthusiasts all the time. Most of the time, they have to appeal to the masses. The value of a product can be better appreciated by how less one needs to pay for it. Just look at Microsoft's Kin as a modern example. A product doesn't really have to be cheap. It just needs to be reasonably priced. Good timing and a lot of luck are not formula. In the real world, it's really a matter of tagging the product with the right price, from the start.
There are a lot of technologies already considered "solid" but cannot kick-off to market because it would be unprofitable to push them out if factors like feasibility and viability and R&D, manufacturing, packaging, marketing and distribution costs would make them overly expensive. At the end of the day, they just have to sell and make profit.
Consider the tablet PC. If you read through its history, the first patent for an electronic tablet goes back to year 1888. Despite popular adaptations in sci-fi books and movies, the tablet PC just started to truly pick up in the 21st century. Before Apple released the iPad
in 2010, touch screen computers were the more expensive mobile computer models around. Because of their steep price, they were often targeted for business users. Nowadays, tablet PCs are so common that they mostly compete by having the cheapest price possible while offering consumer-targeted value-added features and services.On the other hand, the progress of some great technologies got stalled after losing to competition years ago. So when a new window of opportunity opens, reviving them means blowing the dusts off the drawing board and, well, starting all over again. That translates to new R&D costs and a whole new marketing plan/strategy.
Consider the electric car which history goes all the way back to the 1830s. They were considered to be luxury models in the 1900s. That "luxury" tag of course made them NOT for everyone. When Henry Ford
made internal combustion engine powered cars more affordable, electric cars peaked in 1912, to decline soon thereafter. Nowadays, there are many electric vehicles coming out again but the 100 years spent on the shelves have taken toll. The development of the infrastructure for electric vehicles got stalled, requiring various sectors to exert fresh efforts towards putting more electric vehicles on the road. In addition, just like 100 years ago, electric cars today are still considered luxury, the fact that they are still more expensive than their fueled counterparts.For consumers, what's really important is that these technologies are affordable. Most manufacturers cannot target enthusiasts all the time. Most of the time, they have to appeal to the masses. The value of a product can be better appreciated by how less one needs to pay for it. Just look at Microsoft's Kin as a modern example. A product doesn't really have to be cheap. It just needs to be reasonably priced. Good timing and a lot of luck are not formula. In the real world, it's really a matter of tagging the product with the right price, from the start.
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