Meathead - Thanks, I'll post the link on the CPQ thread. By the way, there was an article in the NY Times today concerning PC buying patterns. An outfit called Odyssey apparently did this phone survey, not sure how broad it was, but here it is....
John
December 8, 1997
Many PC Buyers Prefer Power to Low
Price
By JOHN MARKOFF
AN FRANCISCO - The ballyhooed sub-$1,000 personal
computer could prove to be a disappointment for the computer
industry this holiday season, according to a recent survey of consumers.
While the inexpensive machines were the talk of the industry at the
Comdex computer show in Las Vegas last month, a report to be issued
Monday by Odyssey LP, a market research firm based in San Francisco,
suggests that potential PC buyers may be more interested in power than
in price.
The report, based on a national telephone survey conducted in late
October and early November, indicated that 69 percent of consumers
would choose the latest technology over a lower-cost, less sophisticated
computer.
Moreover, among consumers who are
most likely to buy a computer in the
next six months, the preference for
performance is even greater, rising to
77 percent.
"If the under-$1,000 PC ends up
representing 40 to 60 percent of PC
sales this Christmas, I don't see how
the industry is going to make up for
lost profitability," said Nick
Donatiello, Odyssey's president. "It's
pretty bad news."
According to the report, members of roughly one in 10 households say
they are extremely likely to buy a personal computer in the next six
months. Of that group, 78 percent thought they would pay more than
$1,000, and 45 percent, more than $2,000.
The report also found there was a slim difference in price expectations
between those who already have a personal computer and those who
plan to buy their first machine. Current PC owners expect, on average, to
spend $1,999 and first-time buyers expect to spend $1,853, the report
said.
Still, computer-industry analysts say they foresee a strong holiday
shopping season, even with the advent of the sub-$1,000 personal
computer.
"The easy answer is that we are expecting strong sales," said Scott Miller,
a senior industry analyst at Dataquest, a market research firm based in
San Jose, Calif. He conceded, though, that "the price declines are ahead
of where we thought they would be."
The $1,000 figure does not include the cost of a monitor. Dataquest,
using a slightly higher price category, forecasts that machines costing less
than $1,200, with a monitor, will capture about 30 percent of the U.S.
computer market in 1997. It also forecasts that the home computer
market in the United States will grow more than 20 percent.
Despite the projected growth, it may still be a difficult time for the PC
industry, analysts said.
"All of the actual data say that the sub-$1,000 machines are not really
bringing that many new users into the market," said Seymour Merrin, an
industry consultant with Merrin Information Services in Palo Alto, Calif.
He said the industry might be simply chasing the latest trend.
"This is an unbelievably faddish industry," he added.
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