Steve: So from the manufacturer's point of view the factor which counts the most is Performance / cost, that is I would like to spend the least resource to generate the max performance, in another words, which means efficiency and productivity. So I emphasized over and over that High salary is not a horrible thing, instead, the things which horrified me the most is high salary with low productivity. I sincerely whish Mr. Allen Greenspan will take this into consideration when he judge the wage pressure. As to the customers, the most important factor that I will make a decision if I will spend my money for a special product is performance / price, which means I will like to maximize the buying power of my money.Products with lower total price do not mean the max performance / price. That is the reason why I emphasize here over and over again that sub $1000 PCs may not reduce CPQ's profit margin, and not every buyer will go to the sub $1000 PCs. SUB $1000 PC is just one of the many product lines CPQ offered for people who can't afford to buy a PC before, but may not have a max performance / price factor. So, from what I see is that sub $1000 offers additional market to CPQ , which means additional revenues, which also means for the first time every family in the USA has a chance to joint the PC areana, be it poor , middle class, or rich families. Just like the TV market, we can now buy a TV with less than $300 with basic features, but we also have the choice to go to $500, $1000, or even $3000 TVs with more features, and which does not mean that every one will go to the sub $300 TVs and we found that because of the price factors, nowadays most families have more than two TVs in the US. The same thing will happen to the PC industry in the very near future. |