3 ms·

thanks. yes you are right. it is market segmentation. you move more units for a lower weighted average margin. just seems silly your actually modify the pro

by iamjdg 11y ago

thanks. yes you are right. it is market segmentation. you move more units for a lower weighted average margin. just seems silly your actually modify the product to make it fail early just because someone paid less for it. i get it for software, you leave features off or put them on and charge less or more. but for an actual physical product, you are playing with operating hours as a feature, just seems new to me. if i was to do it, i would put some money into picking cheaper parts for the lower lifetime pump. then i could perhaps build it for $7 and get more margin for these sales. but i guess it depends on how much money you put into integrating cheaper parts. but even making it fail early by programming cost some money.

tonyarkles 11y ago
I agree, it's totally weird. I've been thinking about it ever since I saw the article, and thinking about other pieces of equipment that I have that operate on a similar model. I've got an oscilloscope that I bought as a 50MHz model, knowing that an upgrade to 100MHz could be purchased after the fact. When I bought it, I didn't need the extra bandwidth and it was a decent price. Recently, I started to need the extra bandwidth so I inquired about the upgrade cost. $300. To do the upgrade, they give you a file that you stick on a USB key. Part of me is grumpy about the fact that the equipment I bought was actually capable of 100MHz out of the box and was just software locked. And part of me is happy that I got to hold on to my extra $300 until I had a compelling reason (read: a client was paying) to do the upgrade. $X was a decent price for a 50MHz scope, and $X + $300 is a decent price for a 100MHz scope.