PRICING: Code Name Ginger Discrepencies

[counselorbrian]

I am in the process of reading [u]Code Name Ginger</u>and am halfway thjrough it. It is a very interesting look at the process- from R&D to manufacture- for both Fred & Ginger.

One question I have, that may be addressed elsewhere, is how the cost has been so passed on to the consumer from the original intent of costing between $1000-$2000 per unit. Another price quoted the wheels costing between $5-$15 per whell at cost to the manufacturer. This is a far cry from the $188 per wheel being charged on the accessories page.

Any thoughts on this? Also, whatever happened tot he idea of targeting Europe & Asia where city centers are more densely populated and ideal for Segs as a means of transportation? I saw more scooters in Rome, Italy than one could count. Segs would have been great for getting around the seven hills.

Brian

[pt]

bri-

the ht has only been shipping in the usa since march, europe and asia will happen once segway works with the nations to pass laws (like the usa).

cheers,
pt

[Sunday]

Regarding pricing: How much does it actually cost to produce a car? A notebook computer? A piece of art? You can't pay Americans a living wage when you sell products like the Segway for $1,000. Honestly, I'm amazed they're (rumored) dropping the price at all. Cars and homes aren't getting any cheaper.


Mark Sunday



Segway-more fun than you can stand!

[Freddy]

Brian:
I design, manufacture and sell consumer products. The "actual cost" to me for manufacturing an item is only one part of the cost factor.
Besides the expenses incurred during development and testing, we have the daily cost of just running a business which includes informational services, stocking replacement parts, Insurance, labor ,phones, return on original investment,debt service, profit, future improvements, etc.
Even though I think that some of the part prices are a little high I know why,
We have the newest most innovative product to come along and we are requesting that the parts prices would be grouped together common everyday off the shelf parts
It just cant happen for now

[Freddy]

As I continue:
In my everyday adventures when I find something that is high priced, I look for lower price or as in some cases I manufacture it, but when the Item is beyond my scope and I cannot reproduce or substitute it, then I dont mind paying the current price,knowing that it has special qualities or that the seller had to purchase 150,000 tires to get that price break and I only need two.
In the future when we see Segways everywhere I'm sure that the prices of parts will be in line with lets say the everyday tire for you car. Due to volume and competition. For now, due to the nature of the product these prices really are normal for what your getting.
Great Product, Fair pricing.

[god1138]

And then there's the R&D costs that have to be recouped as well. Gotta factor ten years and around $100 Million in everything leading up to this point as well. Early adopters always pay for these things, like it or not.

Cost on parts is one way to look at it, but you've got to consider the origins of those parts and every detail that went into making them if you want to see the true VALUE (or cost) of it.

And like *THAT*, god hits 400 posts. ; )


-Robert
"BORN TO GLIDE"

[Blinky]

quote:Originally posted by god1138


And like *THAT*, god hits 400 posts. ; )


-Robert
"BORN TO GLIDE"

I think post #399 (http://www.segwaychat.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=5202&whichpage=2)was your best yet ;)

back to the topic,

A lot of the data the writer collected was probably expired by the time he got this book out.

Maybe the numbers were correct at the time.

who knows..



http://www.segwaychat.com/photos/Blinky/Blinkyblink.gif http://www.segwaychat.com/photos/Blinky/mrblinky.jpg

[god1138]

Thanks, Blinky. I appreciate hearing that from you! ; )

-Robert
"BORN TO GLIDE"

[toybuilder]

It's largely a question of volume and production cost improvements.

When you take the extremes of very high volumes and very mature tooling and processes, the cost of the wheel may very well come down to about $15-20 in raw material cost. But that would come from amortizing the development cost and capital outlay to manufacture the wheels over, say, 1,000,000 wheels (assuming approx. 40,000 HT's per month as originally expected).

Given a much more modest volume to date (estimate is around 10,000 units in total so far), both the amortized cost and the incremental cost will be much higher.

And, Segway needs to charge a higher mark up at today's lower volume to generate cash flow to pay for staff.

I think we've spoiled ourselves into thinking electro-mechanical things should be cheap... Heck, I can practically trade in my wheels for a desktop PC. But the PC makers today have the advantage of selling millions of machines every year. This certainly wasn't true 15 years ago.

Give it time. It'll come down in price over time.

(BTW, on the topic of falling technology prices -- the local computer superstore was selling HDTV's for $700, nearly 1/2 of what they used to sell for a year ago).

http://www.pasadenasegway.org/