Dragos Neagu wrote: > On 11/23/05, Lyndon Tiu wrote: > >> I remember reading somewhere you are not allowed to sell something >> below cost or you can be sued bu gov't From what I can gather, the Anti-Dumping laws only apply when there is a market discrimination (such as selling the a console in the US for $400 but only $200 in Japan), or when the price is lowered specifically lock another company out of a market (such as Samsung selling Flash RAM below cost to mp3 player manufacturers). Dumping is extremely difficult to prove, so the DoJ usually only goes after the blatant offenses or when there is a political stake in the outcome. > Game console makers have always sold the console at a loss. The mass > production will usually bring the price/console down, and they make > money from peripherals and games. That's not entirely true. Nintendo sells there consoles at cost rather than below. They tend to use 2nd generation technology in their consoles to keep their costs down and put most of their effort into making their games fun to play. Sony and Microsoft both sell their consoles at a loss. Sony has a huge selection of games and accessories to make up for their modest loss. They also realize that the losses have to be limited or no amount of extra sales will make up for the losses. Microsoft on the other hand takes this to the extreme. Their per console loss is the largest in the industry and they have the smallest accessory and game selection. For the original XBox, the division lost $2 Billion dollars and only gained a 17% market share in the US, and less than 5% in Japan. If the XBox360 doesn't turn this around, Microsoft may have to change their tactics with the next generation console. -- Chris Lewis shadow@digitalnirvana.com ---------------------------------------- "System Administrators are the Marines of the business world. We are the first into the fight ready at a moments notice day or night." Hell's Admins - Bourne to Code http://www.hellsadmins.com ---------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change you mail settings: http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss