Can Dell and HP Keep Pace With An Asia-Centric PC World? 218
MojoKid writes "If you've paid any attention to the PC industry in the past few years, you're aware that things aren't as rosy as they used to be. After decades of annual growth, major manufacturers like HP and Dell have both either floated the idea of exiting the consumer space (HP) or gone private (Dell). Contrast that with steady growth at companies like Asus and Lenovo, and some analysts think the entire PC industry could move to Asia in the next few years. The ironic part of the observation is that in many ways, this has already happened. Asia-Pacific manufacturers are more focused on the consumer electronics market and better able to cope with low margins thanks to rapid adoption and huge potential customer bases. Apple has proven that high margin hardware can be extremely profitable, but none of the PC OEMs have been willing to risk the R&D costs or carry new products for a significant period of time while they adapt designs and improve market share."
Re:Easily fixed (Score:4, Interesting)
They certainly don't - for now.
But...
- the total cost of production for automated factories is decreasing rapidly (and will continue to decrease)
- the current cost of borrowing money to invest in capital is relatively low
- the current economic incentives to relocate manufacturing back to western nations is 'somewhat' significant
- the cost of Chinese labor is increasing (and will continue to increase)
The long-term outlook is good for robotic production. I don't know exactly how close we are to the break-even point, but I suspect it will be soon (for variable definitions of soon, of course).
Re:Easily fixed (Score:2, Interesting)
Youre going to get modded down, but this is far more common than most Americans realize. Many of my European friends think the same; they refuse to buy american products until such time as the USA starts acting as a responsible member of the world community and stops with the wars and forcing their IP laws onto other countries. At the moment though they cannot ethically buy USA made products (not that there are many of those left....)
Re:Easily fixed (Score:1, Interesting)
I agree and I'm American. See every election cycle we get these Republican assholes whining about how high taxes are on small businesses...so I figure I'll do them a favor and order from overseas then you and your small business won't have to worry about paying any taxes on my purchase. When "job creators" stop crying about taxes I might consider buying locally again, until then Europe and Chinese keep me supplied with all my needs. Business owners act like they're doing me a favor by being in business. No you're providing a commercial service. Since you feel so "oppressed" running your business I'll happily buy from Europe instead.
Re:Easily fixed (Score:4, Interesting)
Start building them here in the USA.
If labor costs are too high, use robots.
No, market them here in the USA. Actually, that's all US companies really seem to do with any product (cars, etc.)
Asia /always/ had a rich and broad ecosystem of the latest / greatest new technology products when it came to computers, personal electronics, cars, etc. All US companies do is pick a few good ones and dumb them down into a handful of brands that can be effectively mass-marketed to the US. As an aside, it's remarkable how little branding means in Asia... products are mostly sold on specs alone. Even Nintendo game prices would fluctuate based on the MB of ROM in the cartridge and the market demand/popularity over time, and not based on how much Nintendo spent on the marketing campaign for the characters and agreed to fix prices with distributors over a long period of time.
So the shift really is that the asian companies are getting better at simplifying their product lines to market directly to the bulk of americans.
As for robotic assembly, maybe that would work for building widgets that never change, but technology products change too fast too afford to keep your robotic workforce up-to-date.
I'm afraid the only viable financial future in the US is in the collecting on and enforcing of intellectual property. Kinda like how Old Imperial Europe collected its money from colonial and trade royalties. But we kinda know how that played out eventually.