sluggo, gonk and BloggingITGuy,
Interesting points by all of you.
Would like to offer some additional options
Originally posted by sluggo:
Considering that the 990 is based upon a standardized hardware platform from Etronics, and that its price point is due to the development costs being spread amongst multiple brands using said platform
If that is the case why could Outlaw not lean on Etronics again to build a standardized modular platform which Etronics can then license. It will give each company which choose to licensing the platform the ability to differentiate with various nuances.
Originally posted by sluggo:
However, I'm dubious that it will become an industry norm, since it would preclude users from buying new units down the road, and to offset that sales loss the upgrades would need to be expensive, even more so because customer support needs would increase dramatically.
I guess that at $1100 the 990 could be considered disposable after a few years and as Outlaw offers updated products. It will be hard to say how much of their revenue has the potential to be canablized by a card based architecture. It will be dependant on several factors. I take a slightly altered view in that I believe a card based architecture can have two effects. Ultimately, the consumer will spend the same ammount of money in equal or less time (upgrade cycle) using the card based architecture. It is the continual up sell cycle. So in short, I think you will have some customer which will shell out $3000 to $3500 for a fully decked out unit today (dollar today is worth more than a dollar tomorrow) and will not upgrade for another 5 years. But even with those customer you will still have the opportunity for follow on sells before that 5 year is up based on the possibility of significant technology shifts. So that customer over a 5 year period could be worth $4000 to $5000 instead of the initial $3000 to $3500. If customer can only afford $1100 now for a unit and and the unit does not afford me the flexibility to upgrade as I can afford to, I will likely live with that unit for 1.5 to 3 years. Where if i purchase a $1500 that offers me the flexability to upgrade when I can afford it, I will likely spend more in a shorter time period, because I really wanted the $3500 unit originally.
The above thoughts are what I hope to be educated speculation and really could only be validated by a study of demographics related to the current customer base.
Originally posted by gonk:
Plus the logistics of stocking and supporting modular units like that is not something that consumer electronics companies are used to.
Outlaws ditribution model is different than the normal consumer electroncs companies in the category of home audio/video. The primary distribution channel for audio/video components has historically been successful only through established retails dealers. Honestly, I think Onkyo will fail with its card based architecture not because of its design but because of its distribution model.
Outlaw on the other hand being a direct to consumer oriented busines/distribution model could benefit greatly from a card based architecture and logisitics would be relatively easy.
I would like to draw Outlaws current state with that of Dell computers in its early days (If you are interested check out a copy of Dell direct). The card based architecture also affords them the luxury to react to the market much more quickly instead of having to rebuild a unit from the ground up.
Originally posted by sluggo:
Unless the modular design becomes an industry standard, they won't offer it at all. It would cost too much money to design something so complex and proprietary to be able to deliver on their own. Onkyo can do it because they have deep pockets for R&D, and they can afford it if it doesn't sell well.
[b] Plus the big problem with modular systems as I see it, is that it requires a lot of faith on the part of the consumer that the manufacturer will continue to support the chassis with new modules and won't stop support 5 or 6 years out.
I go back to my orignal point in this thread. I believe Outlaw continues to leverage Etronics for designing the base platform which can then be lisenced to multiple brands. In short Etronics builds a bus based architecture like a PCI mother board is the PC and then the individual brands can lisence and build on top of that.
Just offering some friendly banter about the posiblities (This is wish list stuff).
Previous Topic
Index
