« May 2009 | Main | July 2009 »
AMD Quad-Core Prices Rally From Early 2009 Swoon
Computers | Jun 10, 09
It seems AMD’s Quad-Core line possesses power of both the processing and pricing kinds.
In what might be an indication of some recovery in the processor arena, the PriceSCAN AMD Quad-Core Index has erased much of its seven percent Q1 2009 decline, rallying some 5% in the second quarter (see our press release of earlier today). We’ve taken note of recent signs of price weakness in the processor market (“Processor Price Drop Striking At Core Of Tech Recovery") so the fact that demand is strong enough to allow a bottoming in the pricing of a line of state-of-the-art chips is a welcome development. It may also be that production costs have firmed so as to make further price cuts quite difficult for manufacturers and hence retailers, encouraging an effort to hold the line on pricing. Of course this would be problematic without sufficient support from buyers
To be sure, this is not a complete retracing of the first quarter swan dive, but a reversal of this magnitude does inform against the scenario of precipitous tech deflation. And, in this economy, there are not a lot of players in the tech market complaining of a surfeit of good news.
Posted by jeffrey.trester at 7:54 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
State Of The Art Digital Camera Prices Show Staying Power
Digital Cameras & Camcorders | Jun 5, 09
Twelve megapixel digital camera prices have held fairly firm throughout the last few months, in contrast to the markdowns we’ve see for other cutting-edge consumer tech goods.
To elaborate on our press release this week, PriceSCAN’s 12 Megapixel Digital Camera Index dropped only about 1% since October of last year. That compares with about a 20% decline in our 8 Megapixel Digital Camera Index during a comparable, relatively early period in that level of resolution’s life cycle, from October 2005 to May 2006.
Price weakness in state of the art technologies has been a recent theme in the marketplace (see “Processor Price Drop Striking At Core Of Tech Recovery?”, “Sony’s LCD Premium Gets Discounted” and “Automotive GPS Prices Driven Down”). So why the recent out-performance of 12 megapixel cameras?
Perhaps in comparison to the introductory period of 8 megapixel cameras, the retail market anticipates more gradual innovation, supporting early price stability. Additionally, 12 megapixel cameras may have been released with thinner retail margins then in the initial 8 megapixel period, an immediate discount as opposed to one spread over months. And as I noted in our release, maintaining any pricing requires underlying demand, so the introductory-period price stability of these state of the art cameras might be providing a “higher-resolution picture of a small but intriguingly green shoot.”
To get a sense of the firmness of 12 megapixel prices, consider the Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi with EF-S 18-55mm IS Lens, currently the most popular such camera on our site and one whose early release pre-dates our index by several months. After an initial drop in early 2008, the lowest price offered by vendors on this site has actually rallied from a low of about $525 to around $650 over the last few months.
Time Period: 2/4/2008 through 6/1/2009
Each tick mark represents one week
Red = High Price, Blue = Average Price, Green = Low Price
There are those who fear significant deflation in the consumer tech sector. Perhaps the digital camera market may be giving us an early picture of some hope for the retail electronics market.
Posted by jeffrey.trester at 6:51 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
