有下场
As I was trying to figure out how to secure a couple units of the heavily discounted tablet last weekend, I thought, there should be a sequel to this sale. Although HP meant to discontinue it, end users should still be able to get the product. My rationale was as below.
The seven weeks before the sale had proved that Touchpad had no (very small) market. So when HP tried to move its inventory with a pricing change, it doesn't make sense that all of a sudden there will be a demand for it. Although pricing is used to establish an equilibrium between supply and demand, the fundamental problem is that there was no demand, regardless of price. Hence my most logical guess is that those who took the inventory off the shelves were not end users. Another clue that coincided with my guess is that there is no purchase limit per customer. That's why the inventory could move so fast.
That means, there should be another stage in the move of inventory after the sale ended, ie. from the third-party retailers to end users. Vendors at ebay and Amazon.com are already selling their harvest with a mark-up ~ :) This is my predicted sequel.
This should be the final move of the inventory, as the vendors slowly release them into the hands of those who will use the tablet. The competition now would be between these vendors, to see how are willing to sell at the lowest mark-up, and hence entice end users who missed the sale to buy at a slightly higher but still reasonable price. The speed that the inventory in this stage will move will depend on the competitiveness of these vendors. They don't need to promote the sale, as they can still take advantage of the momentum of last weekend's hype. With just one variable to control, this game is not very hard for them to play.
~~~
To use an analogy, last weekend's sale was like a buffet. Customers tend to eat more at a buffet. However, they normally would prepare an extra empty stomach (appetite, 饥饿感) before going to a buffet. But in this case, HP didn't give the market an advance notice (did not create an appetite), then all of a sudden offer the ill-orchestrated buffet. If all of a sudden there is a buffet in front of you right now, would you be able to enjoy it?
Look at other products, like iPhone 5 or iOS5, there's so much hype and rumour about them before they arrive at the market. That's called creating an appetite. So when the products are released, all these hungry wolves jump to gulp down the long-awaited products.
The seven weeks before the sale had proved that Touchpad had no (very small) market. So when HP tried to move its inventory with a pricing change, it doesn't make sense that all of a sudden there will be a demand for it. Although pricing is used to establish an equilibrium between supply and demand, the fundamental problem is that there was no demand, regardless of price. Hence my most logical guess is that those who took the inventory off the shelves were not end users. Another clue that coincided with my guess is that there is no purchase limit per customer. That's why the inventory could move so fast.
That means, there should be another stage in the move of inventory after the sale ended, ie. from the third-party retailers to end users. Vendors at ebay and Amazon.com are already selling their harvest with a mark-up ~ :) This is my predicted sequel.
This should be the final move of the inventory, as the vendors slowly release them into the hands of those who will use the tablet. The competition now would be between these vendors, to see how are willing to sell at the lowest mark-up, and hence entice end users who missed the sale to buy at a slightly higher but still reasonable price. The speed that the inventory in this stage will move will depend on the competitiveness of these vendors. They don't need to promote the sale, as they can still take advantage of the momentum of last weekend's hype. With just one variable to control, this game is not very hard for them to play.
~~~
To use an analogy, last weekend's sale was like a buffet. Customers tend to eat more at a buffet. However, they normally would prepare an extra empty stomach (appetite, 饥饿感) before going to a buffet. But in this case, HP didn't give the market an advance notice (did not create an appetite), then all of a sudden offer the ill-orchestrated buffet. If all of a sudden there is a buffet in front of you right now, would you be able to enjoy it?
Look at other products, like iPhone 5 or iOS5, there's so much hype and rumour about them before they arrive at the market. That's called creating an appetite. So when the products are released, all these hungry wolves jump to gulp down the long-awaited products.
Comments