On Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 8:32 PM, N5GE <[email protected]> wrote: > ...You cannot buy a rig directly from the giant rig manufacturers. ...
---------------- This has nothing to do with the original point, which was the perfectly true observation that the price of some radios comes down over time. It is probably correct, as was conjectured in the first post, that the marginal cost of production declines as the company goes up the learning curve with its tooling, etc., and perhaps order quantities can be managed more cost-effectively as well. These gains may be passed along in the form of price decreases. Moreover, there is the very real possibility that a new design may have a premium value when it first hits the market, and that premium may decline over time. This is very familiar in the semiconductor business, where chip makers actually post future price curves showing planned declines. But if production costs are mainly a function of components whose costs rise over time, the manufacturer has no cost savings to pass on, and in fact may have to raise prices to maintain margins. In the final analysis, price is a function not only of costs and desired margins, but of demand. In particular, if a manufacturer is selling all he can make of some item, and there is an order backlog, then clearly the price is satisfactory to customers. The most relevant considerations to a consumer of any product are performance, suitability, and competitive alternatives. Some manufacturers earn dazzling margins, but are able to sell all the gadgets they can make; others can't sell their products even at prices at or below manufacturing cost. The price declines seen in certain sectors of the ham market may simply be a reaction to dwindling demand. In all cases, the discipline of the market is a lot better way to set prices than someone's impressionistic hunch. Tony KT0NY -- http://www.isb.edu/faculty/facultydir.aspx?ddlFaculty=352 ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
