restorer-john
Grand Contributor
- Thread Starter
- #121
Oh crap! You are probably right. Reading it again it seems like it has a minimum quantity requirement, rather than resale price. I was wondering why the amount was so precise.
It makes sense that a company like Hypex would not remotely go near what we thought they had said.
Seems like now they let people order in smaller quantities, easing the pain on smaller companies that can't build and inventory a bunch.
Oh, well. I put 99% of the blame on John. Hopefully the discussion was of some value anyway, although sad to see a member quit over it.
You're a funny man.
The post I quoted is pretty clear, it's not referring to minimum quantity, and if it was, our sadly departed mate Samoyed, would have jumped on it. It was posted as an 'interesting tidbit' and meant to stimulate a discussion, not a flame war. I like to think I maintained my composure, as did you.
It was, in my opinion, attempted market manipulation, attempted price point manipulation and hosing down a potential race-to-the-bottom from a lowly component supplier. It was also a tactic to buy time, whilst slathering the audiophile airwaves with puff pieces and effusive reviews, in a failed push to reposition TOTL switching amplifiers as the new black.
When that plan didn't materialize, or took too long, and the anticipated cash-laden gravy train never departed the station, Plan B was activated, where previously restricted upper echelon 'halo' products were released to the masses at reasonable prices.
This is likely close to the mark:
Some announced and canceled too. Weren't Mola Mola power amps based on "optimized" NC1200? My reading of this whole thing would be that BP did not want too cheap competition with its own "high-end" designs and that it was a pure market segmentation decision. Then, since class D amplification at that price level and in that segment hasn't been a success but other segments have exploded, it became a moot point and the pricing restriction was lifted.
My issue was clear. Attempted retail price manipulation by a component supplier through contracts, agreements or a unilateral 'policy' which controls the supply or lack thereof. That, my friends, is black and white in this country. It is illegal.
But on the NC400 front, shouldn't we all be happy it is available to all at a very fair price?
It should be cheap, there's hardly anything in it. In my opinion, it's still overpriced. A huge proportion of the cost is clearly IP. Go look at the schematic (it's out there in the public domain) and tell me where the money goes. It's not in the BOM that's for sure. It'll get cheaper and cheaper and then it'll be copied by the Chinese and sold for a few dollars. I surprised it hasn't happened already to be honest, but that just goes to prove how unimportant in the scheme of things an amplifier module really is.
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