>To me a commodity item is one that has gone through its development cycle and can be easily manufactured by anyone with enough will and cash.>
Good Len, we have the same basic definition.
The thing is, that you seem to look at commodities as a black or white issues. I think there is a lot of gray area. To take your examples:
8 and 16 MB DRAM SIMMs are fully commoditized, IMO. 32 and 64 MB chips are slightly commoditized. HOWEVER, 32 and 64 MB chips will SOON be commoditized.
PCs: If I had the will and cash, I could build PCs....Buy a complete motherboard from Intel, and the periperals from assorted vendors. So while PCs aren't 100% commoditized, they are partially (mostly) commoditized.
Altair: Yes, it was the first PC....but it, and put it together for hobbyists. Bill Gates and Paul Allen wrote an operating system for it, and then joined the company (MIPS?) as employees for a while....
Modems: Like I said, modems aren't 100% commoditized, but they are partially commodity items. Modems become more and more commoditized over time, and as newer (faster) technologies are developed.
Sal Habash |
