Design Helps H.P. Profit More on PCs

By DAMON DARLIN
Published: May 17, 2007
Hewlett-Packard’s effort to transform its personal computers into more stylish devices has started to pay off.
Read more.

"Crawford Del Prete, an analyst at the technology market consulting firm IDC, compared what is going on in the personal computer industry with what happened at Swatch watches. One needs only a single watch, but watchmakers discovered that consumers would buy different watches for different functions and even moods. “PCs are headed down the same path,” he said. “Notebook PCs become a reflection of people.”
...

Dell, which was largely responsible for making the PC a commodity, has begun paying more attention to styling. Alex Gruzen, a former Hewlett-Packard executive who heads Dell’s PC operations, said: “It has always been about value, not about who has it cheapest. Now, in the marketplace what is valued is great design.”

Defining commoditization,
Posted by: Anton Philidor Posted on: 07/19/04
This Commentary looks at a surprising number of definitions of when a product is commoditized. Why not stick with a standard definition? (Standards are good when they advance rather than restrict.)
A commoditized product is one for which substitution is easy and does not substantially lessen performance. Read more...