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From: denbeste@bbn.com (Steven Den Beste)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Future directions???
Summary: Actually, the price ISN'T coming down.
Message-ID: <41535@bbn.COM>
Date: 16 Jun 89 15:05:08 GMT
References: <3920@sugar.hackercorp.com> <2030188@hpcilzb.HP.COM> <596@bnr-fos.UUCP>
Sender: news@bbn.COM
Lines: 34

In article <596@bnr-fos.UUCP>, protcoop@bnr-public.uucp (Joel Avery) writes:
> 
> I agree that Commodore should not be too willing to jump into head
> on competition with some of the big boys like Sun and Apollo.  But
> they sure as h*ll had better have an ace up their sleeve in a few
> years time when the price margin between PCs and WorkStations   
> becomes so minimal that people would soon spend $2500 on a mind-
> blowin' workstation then spend $1000 on a mind-blowin Amiga
> 4000.  Think about it C= ... the price IS coming down, so you
> guys better be ready for it, whether you care to admit it or not
> you are either going to have to jump in or go under.  Ne ce pas ?
> ---------------------
> Alan W. McKay  |  My opinions are mine, yours are yours. |  Eat Food  |
> NEPEAN, Ont.   |  I in no way pretend to represent the   |     and    |
> 613-763-8980   |  the options of my employer.  So there. |   LIVE !!  |

Actually, the price ISN'T going to come down very much more. Instead, they'll
provide more feature and more product for the same price. The reason is that
there is a floor price below which they can't profitably DISTRIBUTE the
product, no matter WHAT it is, because of overhead costs.

Think about it: The only reason that Commodore can sell the C128 for what they
do is that they're selling it through Toys R Us. Sun has an in-house sales
force nationwide which they have to pay, and they can't do it selling $1000
workstations.

Sun recently announce the 3/80. The price is about the same as the 3/60, but it
has more processor power. That's the model for what you'll see in the future.
As long as Commodore can profitably distribute something for about $2000, they
won't be competing with Sun. Sun's threshold appears to be about $10,000.


Steven C. Den Beste,   BBN Communications Corp., Cambridge MA
denbeste@bbn.com(ARPA/CSNET/UUCP)    harvard!bbn.com!denbeste(UUCP)