PC makers struggle in consumer electronics

Today's Wall Street Journal has a very telling article on Dell's failure in the consumer electronics market.. Conventional wisdom had been that the PC manufacturers would bring "PC economics" (more aptly voodoo economics in my opinion because of the small number of PC makers that make money on PCs) to the consumer electronics industry and reinvent the industry. The article notes that both Dell and HP consumer electronics units are struggling, while the CE retailers like Best Buy and Circuit City have moved beyond price to focus on customer experience -- and have profits to show for it.

Of course, one challenge for PC makers is that in the CE business, you actually have warranties and product liability, something that is remarkably absent in the PC business. But if you really want to understand how a PC maker can make money in the CE business, you have to look to the non-PC PC maker, Apple. Funny thing; they're reporting record revenues and profits too.

Technorati Tags: Dell, Apple, HDTV, Consumer Electronics, Marketing