[TenTec] Re: 516 Price in Perspective

[duffyb01@fuse.net]

Art, some good points.  Billy, I'm not sure what you are getting at.

Productivity has everything to do with keeping prices down when faced with an increase in wages.  My point on productivity is that the greater the ability of the manufacturer to increase productivity, the lower the price of the product provided that demand and the price of raw materials stays equal.

With amateur radio transceivers today versus yesterday, the amount of parts used are fewer, thus the cost to manufacturer is lower, and more of the production is automated which also reduces the cost to manufacturer. R&D costs are assumed to be the same percentage of sales as 30 years ago, and may even be less today.   

The retail price of TT's radios 30 years ago had to support a model that used retailers as the prime method of distribution.  Now TT uses a direct model so more of the profit is retained by TT.  I am all for profit and the more they make the better.

So what is the debate all about - price of the radio. Yes, Billy, I am whining about two price increases before the radio even hit the street.  I think the price is too high (yes, my reality - not yours).  

My response was to the post about the price of the radio being less than the rate of inflation.  I just disagree with using the price of previous Argonauts, adjusted for inflation, as the basis for justifying the price of the 516.  The reality in electronics pricing over the last 30 years would indicate that the price should be even lower than what it is today.  I believe the original $595 may have been the right price, but a perceived high demand for their product may have led them to believe they priced it too low - thus the two increases.

Billy, my statements were made from my observations and my experience with pricing the products and services I offer for sale.

I think TT had a real opportunity to use a new product, at an attractive price point to attract NEW, never before TT buyers, to buy their products and become hooked - then move them up the ladder to their other radios.  At $795 they have the radio at a price point that is no longer attractive and puts it, in many cases, at a price point that is higher than many of the low end rice boxes (of course we can argue the features of each and every product compared to the 516).  I think the definition is missed opportunity.

I already think highly of many of TT's radios and have owned three - A Paragon II, Omni VI, and the Jupiter.  But most hams are unlike TT fanatics and are simply going to compare price and basic features and turn away from the 516.

Oh, Billy, if everyone stopped buying plywood tomorrow, the price would come down.  No one individual can do it alone as I am sure you know (at least I hope you know) from the rhetorical questions you asked.  Why else do you think the price of plywood increases so dramatically every time a major hurricane threatens the United States?  Plywood did not get more expensive to manufacture, it's just that more people wanted it.