About DM32

[Valentin Albillo]

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Hi,

(05-19-2023 04:26 PM)jonmoore Wrote:  HP in their prime, were masters of marketing hardware to specific niches. In most cases they ensured that the cost of doing business for each product was well matched to its perceived value.

Related to what you say, this is quoted from what Kahan said in his often-cited interview (my bolds):

On the HP-92 pricing:

"It was just marvelous, and it was going to be priced at $450. And the executives, especially those in marketing said, “Hey, there are people who would pay $750 for this. We should price it at $750.” “No, no!” came up a voice from below. “$450 is the right price.” “What the hell do you guys know?” said the more senior marketing people. “This is going to be value price. $750 is well worth it. We’ve shown it to various bigwigs, and they’ve said, ‘Oh yes, absolutely. I would be happy to pay $750 for this.’’’ And it came out with that price.
[...]
Well, needless to say, Hewlett-Packard finally did drop the price to, I think it was $495, or something. But it was too late. The bloom was off the rose.
[...]
We couldn’t get them out there because the price was too high, and lowering the price afterwards doesn’t really change people’s opinion. What they remember about things is first impressions, you see. You only get one chance to make a first impression."

On the HP-12C pricing:

"Okay, let’s look here. The HP-12C financial calculator, you see the list price, initially $120? And these guys were going to sell it to you for $90. But it only cost HP something less than $15 to make."

V.