laptops are suddenly cheaper this year

[her34]

this year there have been multiple laptop sales going for ~$500-600. last week there's even been a $400 laptop at office depot.

is this just technology getting cheaper or did something happen (i.e. overproduction last year)?

 

[thespeakerbox]

Uh..Murphy's Law

 

[Ben88]

Uh.....I don't see how that's murphy's law???

 

[Pciber]

Originally posted by: thespeakerbox
Uh..Murphy's Law

i think you want.. err.. iforgetwho's law.. says technology will double every 18 months or so..


CD burners were ~$100 for a 24x a year or two ago. now they are $20 for a 52x. shiz happens, get with the times.

 

[Jimmys3]

i believe its Moores Law. It has to do with CPU speeds iirc.

 

[arcas]

Probably a little of both. First, there's currently an oversupply of LCD panels so that reduces one of the major manufacturing costs. Secondly, competition. The desktop computer market has become largely commoditized. You can find new machines for under $400 these days. The Dells and HP/Compaqs of the world are able to make a profit only by selling large quantities of machines.

At the same time, the laptop market was still fairly high-margin and it was becoming popular for non-business buyers. So a lot of manufacturers jumped on the laptop bandwagon. But, frankly, there's not much difference between low-end laptops (in fact, they're all probably made by the same handful of OEMs and rebadged). So the only way to attract customers to your product is for you to sell it for a few dollars less than your competition. Rinse and repeat.

 

[sparkyclarky]

Originally posted by: Jimmys3
i believe its Moores Law. It has to do with CPU speeds iirc.

transistor density, which up until this point has been fairly accurate in relation to CPU speeds too

 

[amol]

Originally posted by: Jimmys3
i believe its Moores Law. It has to do with CPU speeds iirc.

no, the number of transistors

if it was speed, we'd have 8GHz machines right now!!

 

[Mrvile]

No, God hates us all.

 

[vegetation]

is this just technology getting cheaper or did something happen (i.e. overproduction last year)?

It's a combination of a bunch of things. First off, more people are now buying laptops because they see the perceived benefits of owning one (i.e. not just for business people anymore). Because of that, laptop unit sales have reached a point where manufacturer's can build more of them at lower costs. Combine that with how just about every company outsources their machines to China and these factories have streamlined laptop designs so more common parts are used throughout different model lines. Then you have cutthroat retail channels where slim margins are now just accepted in favor of higher unit sales. Look forward to laptops being priced at less than $500 as a common price (i.e. no rebate BS needed) in the next year or two.

 

[Jimmys3]

i guess i didnt remember it right. good call guys. At least I got the name right? =)

 

[DGath]

LOL... it's one thing to say the wrong thing, it's another thing to link to it. Moore's law doesn't even directly explain the price decrease, all it says (simply put) is that computers double in speed every 18 months.

 

[thespeakerbox]

The second part is crap. Look at Dell. China, HAHA.

 

[thespeakerbox]

Uhh , Dgath. Its one thing to make fun of someone, but to say the wrong thing is just idiotic. Murphy's, not Moore's.