Christine,
>>>Intel may have no choice at the low end of the market. What if sub $1,000 computers are just the opening round for the info appliance. What if WebTV version 2 takes off? No Intel inside. <<<
Intel may not want to be in the $500 appliance market (at least, that is not where their top line revenues will be impacted), but they have publicly stated that they are targeting the enterprize solutions market where the cost of ownership per pc work station is closer to $20k than to the $12k that you have previously cited. They are after the big iron, server, corporate/business, media junkies, and individual power users market.
I think they will give up the true sub $1000 market for others to fight it out and to stay out of anti trust entanglements.
When the media talks about a sub $1000 computer, they are not really talking about a computer system that costs less than $1000. They are talking about a market, for the most part, that consists of people who are penny wise and dollar foolish. Most of these people will end up paying closer to $2000 than $1000 after getting a monitor, modem, printer, sound cards, software, et al. After spending close to $2000 most of these people will find they will need more. After all, who would rather spend $2000 for something that they could get for $1000. My point is you can't do it for less than $1000. Sometimes cheap is expensive.
The computer system that you truly lust for will always cost more than $5000. There will always be a market for a Mercedes, but will there always be a market for a Yugo - even though it could get you from A to B - most of the time?
Mary |
