The question is, though, how much money is being made on these sales.
If HWP is once again out to buy market share, all the best to them. Then we will see another disappointing quarter for them (like the last), with lower than expected earnings due to a shortfall in the margins department. I would not think that HWP is able to achieve the margins that the first sub-zero PCs yielded pricing it at $600!
No doubt, all credit to whomever is entering the market and bringing in competitive spirit - that will definintely drive prices down further, which is good for the customer.
Don't forget, though, that the key challenge is to enter the market early, cannibalise the opportunity well and truly before the competition moves in and price wars start.
Time to market will be the key challenge. CPQ will lose as soon as one fo the other major players (IBM/HWP) challenges them with the same combination of quantity available, timeliness of the introduction, as well as quality of the product. It is bound to happen sometime, it will just be interesting to see when and by whom it will be done.
Just my opinion
K. |
