MOBY AND COBY
- The Big Apple Killer: Marvell's Tablet ("Moby") for $99.
People are crazy to pay Apple's prices. They will be really crazy to pay through the nose for an Apple iPad when they are able to get a suitable replacement for $99 -- if not the Marvell Moby, then something else. Price breaks like this, when it actually happens, are market breakers. This will kick the floor out from under Apple. Read more at http://hothardware.com/News/Marvells-99-Moby-Tablet-Might-Just-Change-The-World/ .
- Coby Netbook PC NBPC722 should even run Linux, as shown by the link below:
http://www.cobysz.com/newEbiz1/EbizPortalFG/portal/html/ProductInfoExhibit.html?ProductInfoExhibit_ProductID=c373e91fae986c488fea6cf251e6dcb6&ProductInfoExhibit_isRefreshParent=false
You will see below why the $100-laptop phenom is unstoppable though most everyone in the computer field does want to stop it.
Today's news comes from the CeBIT exhibition (European show for consumer electronics and telecommunications, with emphasis on suppliers as well as users), ongoing in Hannover, Germany, March 2-6, 2010. http://www.cebit.de/search?srchopts=ZGRmBQt0ZQDjAmcypaMapzH9AFM2pG0kZQN3Amp0AQbkZwL3AwHmZmZ4
We reported on this over a year ago while some famous gadget sites (I won't name Engadget.com or anything like that) were still in denial on this -- http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/08/cobys-sub-200-netbooks-handled-at-ces/ . :) (Do Engadget and Ross Rubin ever say they were wrong?)
You see, everyone who makes their living in the computing game is loath to admit what they loathe. And, oh, how they loathe supercheap computers, because commoditization of computing will cut revenue streams from it, make it less profitable for all -- and that includes stores like Best Buy and product pointers like Engadget and CNet.
The Coby NBPC-722 (Netbook PC, 7-in. screen) is claimed to sell for well under the famed "$100-laptop" price barrier, as Engadget now admits (a year late) -- actually $85.
Unfortunately, I doubt that. The sweet spot for ultracheap computers is about $129. You can sell tons at that price if you have wide distribution channels, as Coby does. You couldn't get a similar device for less than $66 wholesale in quantity, FOB China, which tells me that's about what it costs to make these. So a $99 retail selling price probably is doable for Coby but by no means necessary. I would estimate the introductory price as $119 to $129. But the competitors for these will get much more expensive, making the Cobys attractive indeed.
LET'S MAKE IT OFFICIAL
Here is Coby's page showing the 7-in. netbook PC: http://www.cobysz.com/newEbiz1/EbizPortalFG/portal/html/ProductInfoExhibit.html?ProductInfoExhibit_ProductID=c373e91fae986c488fea6cf251e6dcb6&ProductInfoExhibit_isRefreshParent=false You can see the specs and a photo there.
1. The BIG Deal: YOU WILL BE ABLE TO FIND THEM "EVERYWHERE"!
2. The OTHER BIG Deal: There Will Be DOZENS OF IMITATORS!
By finding them everywhere, I mean they will be in unusual venues for selling laptops, notebooks, and such: at GROCERY stores, HOME IMPROVEMENT stores, DRUG stores. We won't have to rely on conventional electronics sellers like Walmart, Best Buy, and Fry's, who hate to sell cheap PCs. They just won't do it until they have to. Incidentally, I have seen the Augen Netbook for just a little over $100 at a TA truck stop. It also was available at the grocery chain Albertson's and the home-improvement store chain Menard's, last November (Black Friday) for both of them.
Out-of-the-ordinary-channel distribution is essential for the sub-$100 laptop phenom to take off and fly.
100s of Brands Even Now
A city in China, Shenzhen, is the source of literally hundreds of brands of similar mini-laptops or EPCs, as the Chinese are wont to call them. Here are some between $50 and $100: http://www.aliexpress.com/category/702/laptops.html?minPrice=50&maxPrice=100&quantity= .
Here are many more for a little over $100: http://www.aliexpress.com/category/702/laptops.html?minPrice=100&maxPrice=200&quantity= .
LOTS OF $100 LAPTOPS, THAT'S a KEY.
3. AND THE COUP DE GRACE (for $300 - $3000 PCs): The BLISTERPACK PC
When you see these on blisterpacks, you soon will see them in dollar stores (all kinds of dollar stores).
Breaking through the price floor will lower the price of all personal computers. Even Apple and Sony will not be able to hold the line. The bottom price point drags down the bottom line of all computer marketers and those companies and people who feed on them. It is very simple.
My opinion right now is that "computers" eventually will be offered for few tens of dollars. However, bear in mind that that is in 2010 dollars, not the inflated ones we will have when computers get into dollar stores, which might themselves change into "$5 Stores."
MORE FROM ENGADGET.COM
Engadget finally got on the ball with this and it is worth looking at: http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/03/coby-85-smartbook-feels-like-a-hundred-bucks-hands-on/ .
