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Ask HN: Why are USB-C cables and adaptors so expensive?
UK prices on Amazon average around £15 for a USB-C to HDMI cable and £25+ for an HDMI and USB-A adaptor.
Given laptops and mobile devices are seemingly converging on USB-C, this feels like a vendor racket (think Phoebus cartel) to artificially increase the prices or is this a licensing tax for USB peripherals & connectors?
For context; I feel an appropriate price for a USB-C to HDMI cable would be ~£5 - £10 given consumer sentiment (me) and what I'd expect with economies of scale.
- LeoSolaris 8y agoLikely it is more of a scale pricing. The products are new and the market is small, so production is still sized to meet the demand. With a smaller production run, prices are higher. Once the demand scales up, and the supply with it, prices to manufacture will fall. Plus with a larger demand; competition will help pull down the price.
- timonoko 8y agoThe connector allows higher voltages and currents. And here lies the problem, vendors have responsibility when the 60 watts shorts up and cause fires. You can find 10 cent USB-C connectors from Alibaba, no problems in cheap connector production, perse.