Maybe. But the tech is getting cheaper to produce. Monitors are very cheap, and they aren’t part of this business model.
Comment on We don’t need 75-inch TVs, we need 75% off basic survival. 💀
theparadox@lemmy.world 21 hours agoA lot of it is actually data collection (mass spying and surveillance) being used to harvest and sell vast quantities of data… and that subsidizes the price of the device.
Basically, if we make the devices cheaper and spy on every customers, it becomes more profitable to sell at a loss to get more customers to spy on.
ieGod@lemmy.zip 11 hours ago
theparadox@lemmy.world 8 hours ago
While I technically agree, they are trying…
https://cybersecuritynews.com/lg-monitor-app-installs-adware/
Gladaed@feddit.org 21 hours ago
That’s not really the only thing going on in tech. Sure TVs are a very competitive market where that is being done in part. But a vast majority of the price cut must be attributed to technological advancement.
theparadox@lemmy.world 20 hours ago
I don’t disagree that manufacturing costs have gone down, but I question whether that or ads, data collection, and other new smart TV “features” have most contributed to the lowering price of TVs and other electronics.
Gladaed@feddit.org 20 hours ago
That’s bookkeeping magic. They are not talking about the cost of tvs and to consumers but their profit.
Their lower cost divisions such as ads and sponsorship can only operate for they sell tvs. I.e. their cost isnt reflected accurately.
They even talk about how the hardware section’s revenue is much, much greater. But when you got those bonus earnings you can undercut your competition ever so slightly or even sell at a minor loss in the manufacturing while still making a profit. But this barely matters to the price the consumer actually pays.
theparadox@lemmy.world 20 hours ago
So you are saying that they are talking about profit and not revenue. Profit - the actual net gain the company gets and the sole reason businesses exist in a capitalist economy, and arguably the more important responsibility of a corporation to its shareholders…
Gross profit:
Source 2021 2020 Device 25.6 58.2 Platform+ 57.3 30.6 To me, it looks like they are making more profit from the platform than from the TV sales themselves. To the point where they could, as you say, literally sell TVs at a loss, and still profit…but that barely matters when it comes to the price of the TV?
When the TV is on the modest end, I think that matters a whole lot.
They won’t be giving away 75" TVs or anything, but I think “platform” revenue has sizeable impact on why you can get absurdly cheap 27" flat panel TVs from Vizio and the like.
jaybone@lemmy.zip 18 hours ago
They kind of do this with your “rewards card” or “club card” though.
theparadox@lemmy.world 17 hours ago
That’s your buying habbit. They’ve had that for a while now.
For TVs a single sale gets you a microphones for “voice features”, maybe a camera for web video chatting, and can take snapshots of your screen every X seconds to ID what content you are watching, and so much more.
atomicbocks@sh.itjust.works 17 hours ago
Also with everything that used to be a proof of purchase that now requires a scan of your receipt, box tops for education for instance.