--------- START OF FORWARDED MESSAGE --------- From System ....: Internet From Conference : comp.sys.amiga.misc MessageID ......: Originally from : Index Information <614735403> Subject ........: Re: potential sales was(re: what's ai doing?) In article <5o97rq$fic@ds2.acs.ucalgary.ca>, rapenner@acs.ucalgary.ca (Richard) wrote: > Jason Compton wrote: > > > > Richard (rapenner@acs.ucalgary.ca) wrote: > > : If it is then they might as well not build it. Most of us Amiga user > s > > : are not Business Oriented. If we don't have the opppourtunity to buy > it. > > : Then it won't sell. > > > > That's a rather narrow view. There are an awful lot of Amiga applicat > ions > > that don't involve Amiga users, and Index is exploiting them. > > > > Where do you think all those A2000s are going? Hint: they're not goin > g to > > Amiga user's homes. No, they are going to a corporate project that has been on-going for several years, the original instillation was A2000 and the requirement has stayed the same. One of the BIG points about corporate projects is that, while they are slow to start, they can get very, very big and continue for many years. The retail market is fickle, the buying decision is based on individual choice at the time of purchase, this tends to make the latest greatest product sell and causes the sudden collapse of the market or failure of it to start, such as the Atari ST, CDTV, CD32, etc. It also has the damaging effect of adding feature on feature and the need to change for changes sake. The corporate market buys for different reasons - based on the requirement and the cost, while there can be a tendency to look at kit with flashy features there is also the reality that they are not necessary if all you need is a rolling point of sale display. During the last 2+ years we have sold 7,000 add-ons for CD32 for a corporate project, how many retail CD32 have sold and are still in use? These CD32 units do an excellent job and will do so for many years. I would estimate that 30-50 per cent of CD32 have ended up in corporate projects. ... > You missed my point. You can't start excluding groups in a diminshing > market. Once you start that, you lose the market. No market. No profit. > No next generation. We all have to have the oppourtunity to have the > NG's; not selected groups. It costs nearly 100 times more to support 100 machines with 100 customers as it does 100 machines with 1 customer, therefore the support and infrastructure cost is only 1 per cent, this allows lower cost manufacture orientated structures rather than customer support orientated organisation. ie. we can sell them for less to corporate customers and therefore the product is more viable. There are a band of companies who have been doing corporate projects (with an uphill struggle) and many of these are still operational. Would you buy a 68EC020 machine with AGA? These machines are cost effective, compatible, reliable, functional - but, they don't have flashy consumer features that all the adverts tell you are essential (even if you only use a WP), they are solid workhorses with evolutionary features. We are not only taking the technology into CD32/A1200 type application areas, but into smaller and more embedded areas as we cost reduce and shrink the designs with increased R&D man hours and investment. On the other hand, we are also working on higher end application areas. There were 2.4 billion 8 bit micro's sold last year, the value wasn't particularly high, but it does bring into focus the limited market size of something like the PPC with perhaps 3 million unit sales. No, we are not producing an 8 bit Amiga! But we are aiming at a *broader* market, not limiting it to a narrow retail one. Regards, Mick Tinker Index Information Ltd, England index@cix.co.uk http://www.cix.co.uk/~index Fax: +44-1256-701023 ---------- END OF FORWARDED MESSAGE ----------