20 Oct
2005
20 Oct
'05
3:07 p.m.
Subject: Re: PC floppy cable twists...
From: "Teo Zenios" <teoz at neo.rr.com>
Date: Thu, 20 Oct 2005 14:51:46 -0400
To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at
classiccmp.org>
----- Original Message -----
From: "Allison" <ajp166 at bellatlantic.net>
To: <cctalk at classiccmp.org>
Sent: Thursday, October 20, 2005 2:35 PM
Subject: Re: PC floppy cable twists...
But it did matter. It was only a matter of time that some vendors that
were bleeding from the eyes tossed in the towel or were gobbled up.
one of the major steps was to move to offshore production to reduce
product costs.
You missed the most basic reason. One part, one bin, one stocking number
and less standing stock. Logistics of warehousing costs and space not
electrical design.
Everyone seems to forget or even miss that not too long after the PC was
introduced and clones appeared the costs of producing, stocking and
servicing
them were under great pressure. Anything that
cost, even pennies, could
put
a vendor at risk. Why did some vendors
disappear?
Allison
The original clone makers still had a huge profit margin so a few pennies
would not have mattered until the huge 1989-91 shakeout where pretty much
everybody started competing on nothing else but price (and purchasing power
benefits). I remember advertisements (early 90's ?) where DELL was comparing
its server to Compaq and it was thousands less for the same spec machine. From inside the industry it was already apprent by the
late 80s that
costs were under pressure. The clone companies often had a great
advantage as they were smaller and less burdened than IBM, DEC and
others. By '91 some were already dead or dieing.
Allison