Rude- I'm a little surprised at your analogy..
Let's backtrack a bit..(I know you know this but...)
The Japanese first got started in the late 50's/early 60's in the USA with their (at that time) crap-ola mobiles...Granted, they knocked the socks off of the U.S. manufacturers in the '70's, but that was after 10 years (or more) of telegraphing what they were up..American car manufacturers and executives were so arrogent, fat, lazy, and stupid not to see the competitive thread..
Also, the Japanese were subsidized in numerous ways by their government, making such an intervention possible. Without the old Japanese keiratsu (sp?) model, doubtful they would have ever made the impact in the U.S. market that they did...Having said that, it was for the better: As we all know, the U.S. industry got its act together..
E-machines currently has only a handful of employees....Despite a fantastic start, let's see where they are six months/a year from now. It appears to me that they essentially have become Packard-Bell of 1997 (with less profits)...so far, they have been picking the low-hanging fruit.......as their business grows (and the issues that face all companies when the grow starting hitting them), lets see how "quality" their management is....right now, they have a simplistic formula which works great in the low-end, but the formula is a bit different up the food chain (wouldn't you agree?)...all businesses get more difficult to manage, maintain quality, etc..when you are selling hundreds of thousands, then millions of units........a year from now, I'm sure that investors will be pressing E-machines for profits...not just un-profitable marketshare, and e-machines will have to grow into unfamiliar, much more complicated territory to make it happen.......Some on the Burke thread see it as a given that E-machines will successfully enter the commercial market...I find this interesting given how Gateway and Micron have made numerous attempts at the large corporate market, and made nary a dent....it is obviously not that easy, even for (direct) companies that have been around for many years...
I am not competent as others in matching systems, but I always find it hilarious when others on the thread (not you!) compare e-machines to Dell....oh yeah, I forgot to throw in that doesnt include the monitor, service, etc....C'mon...OK, Dell's are more expensive...but let's not say that e-machines P366 cost $599, when we know they don't...that is a joke...if one is doing a comparison, and knows the information, please post it.....and do us a favor, and not shade the argument (as low-end computers ads often try to do).....let's get rid of the used-car salesman mentality....
E-machines may/should do better in the small business market, but having owned a small business, I would be loathe to buy a computer from a company only in existence for a few months (even if successful), and without a well-rated service organization. I couldn't have afforded any screw-ups with my "box"...that is not how I made money...I feel certain that I am not the only small business person who feels this way...If they maintain their so-far good reputation a year from now, I think they will look more attractive to the small businessman (or woman)...
I don't think the majors (Compaq, Dell, IBM, etc.) are anywhere near as arrogant about E-machines, as the U.S. automakers were with the Japanese threat...I feel certain that Compaq, IBM hardware unit, Packard-Bell are scared silly (and looking for answers)...
If you go back a couple years, Dell has no competitive offering for first-time buyers...now, at least they have something in the ballpark (with more on the way).....obviously, partly an Intel (Celeron) issue......It appears to me that Dell has become more competitive (not less so) in the low-end market in the last few months....since Dell is growing from a low-base in that market, growth can still be at a fast %, even at low gross levels...
Regardless, the low-end market is only one piece of the overall growth puzzle (for Dell) as you know...The other pieces, individually, are just as important (if not more so..)
I have great respect for E-machines and what they have accomplished. I think, though, there is a whole lot left to this story..They still have a lot to prove, IMO. It is not a given that they will survive/thrive either...They've gotten off to a good start, though..
BTW- Isn't Microsoft 2000 supposed to be a memory hog?? What impact will that have on low-end machines??? |
