You know, after reading the story about the woman who was trampled by mad consumers out to pick up a cheap DVD player, I stopped for a moment to think about the DVD player itself.
It was $30. And that’s not the lowest price out there.
Circuit City is selling a “mystery brand” 5″ television for $10. Radio Shack has a 3″ LCD TV for $50. Remember when these were hundreds of dollars?
Today you can pick up pricey cell phones for free, DVD players for less than a family meal at KFC, and wi-fi access points for a negative cost once you get a rebate.
How can this be possible? I can’t believe that you can build a television for $10 nor are wireless companies making enough money from their customers to cover the cost of the phone AND the service AND the infrastructure.
I have a sinking feeling that these incredible deals are going to lead to a collapse in electronics firms, the same way that the .coms fell…
Circuit City and the others loose about 10-15% per product on those ‘deals’ but will make money on all the stuff that goes with it (i.e. Svideo and rca cables). As far as the cell phones go, those are all subsidized by the carriers (same reason why you can get free equipment and install on satelite t.v.) . Cell phones, by the way, are the only thing keeping ol’ tride and true Radio Shack in business.
So, when will oil companies do the same????