4 ms·

Who [or what] decides whether scarcity is true or false?

• timeshifter 14y ago
  If they actually can provide, but claim they can't, it's false.
• Groxx 14y ago
  I was about to say the same thing, but timeshifter (whose account appears to be hellbanned) beat me to it: >If they actually can provide, but claim they can't, it's false.
• trimbo 14y ago
  The way I've looked at it is "everyone who wants one seems to be able to get one in a reasonable timeframe." Apple is a master of this. You might not get one on day one, but you'll get yours on day five. That's enough time to inspire people to line up to get theirs on day one. The Wii was the same way. It was "hard to get" for two Christmases. How is that at all possible? A company misjudges their demand that badly for two years in a row? But really what happened was they just kept a decent pace of manufacturing that satisfied all demand just in time. I never heard of anyone not getting their Wii when they wanted it for either Christmas. And you really need exactly that: stories of people "getting theirs". So the delays should be somewhat minimal, enough that people can show off getting theirs and tell the story in time for the next person to do the same thing. The Best Buy on Main Street gets deliveries on Tuesday. Come back then!
  • ansible 14y ago
    The Wii was the same way. It was "hard to get" for two Christmases. How is that at all possible? People mess up forecasting all the time. I've been a personal witness to several instances of this. It usually results in someone getting fired. Overproduction can be a terrible burden on any company. It is often better to take the low forecast to reduce risk.
• chongli 14y ago
  Until someone comes out with proof that Google is sitting on warehouses full of unsold phones, I'll accept that it is a true scarcity.