It Figures

PC Makers Face Netbook Peril - Barron's

I think her concerns are excessively negative and much too short term oriented. While the readers of this service probably don't blink at paying $1000+ for a computer, millions in the US, and tens or hundreds of millions around the world, do. This will explode the units sold, albeit at thinner margins, but inteligently managed, should be very profitable. Think Wal-Mart(low margins/big volume) rather than Neiman-Marcus.

This post reminds me of Detroit's decision to stick with producing SUV's and pick-up trucks, with big per unit profits, instead of embracing smaller, more fuel efficient models, due to their thinner margins. The customer decides in the end, and couldn't care less about your "need" for margin.

If DELL and HP fail to join in (DELL is in already, don't know about HP) customers will just buy from someone else. Management's job is to first get the product right, and then get the costs right. This is the right product, for the times and for the world. Hoping the trend goes away is for fools.