Dell price gouges Japanese business market for spray painted Mini Inspiron
Deciding that the Mini Inspiron 9 was too garish to sell to the Japanese salaryman market, coming in whorish black and white as it of course does, Dell has opted to rebrand the Mini Inspiron as the Vostro A90 in Japan.
Everything else is the same. It still comes in black (although it's a blacker, more businessy black). It still has the same 1.6GHz Atom, the same 8GB storage drive, the same whatever.
But price? Close to a thousand dollars.For a machine that, short of a spray of paint, goes for less than 400 in the same configuration. Ha! lolwhut?
Dell readies small, cheap computer for small biz [Reg Hardware]
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The black makes it sexy and expensive.
I can imagine the receipt.
-Computer 1 $400.00
-Black paint 1 $600.00
Is the price increase maybe related to an import tax or Dollar/Yen exchange rates? I was stationed in a country that had a 100% import tax e.g. $400 item plus $400 tax equaled an $800 cost. In Korea, it really seamed like Korean made appliances cost more there than in the U.S. and any American items could sell on the bllack market for a premium. BTW if anyone want to "paint" plastic computer cases/panels you use automotive spray vinyl dye. It absorbs into the plastic instead of being a flaky surface layer. The only drawback is that it smells like paint/dye for quite a while until it fully cures and off-gasses.
The Vostro A90 sells for a little over 60,000 yen in Japan (the retail is close to 100,000 but there's a 30,00 yen discount) so it is close to the same price as in the US.
http://www1.jp.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/laptop-vostro-a90?c=jp&cs=jpbsd1&l=ja&s=bsd
BoingBoing shame on you! Cory . . . really after all you have fought for you carelessly let a Dell Blogger on anonymously to spread anti-intellectual pro-Dell information?!
Dear #3 Anonymous (Anthony?), since you are so worldly traveled with whichever organization that has stationed you in whatever country that has a 100% import tax, why don't you enlighten the general public on the duties and taxes for IT products in China, after all isn't the US a member of the Information Technology Agreement?
In case you would like some more specific information:
Upon accession to the ITA in December 2001, China agreed to eliminate tariffs on three fourths of ITA products by January 1, 2003, and eliminate tariffs on all remaining ITA products by January 1, 2005. To find out China's current tariff rate on your exact IT product, call the Trade Information Center at 1-800-USA-TRADE.
Signatories to the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) have eliminated their import duties on a wide range of information technology products, including software and computer hardware.
Paint a laptop black and charge more for it?
Who does Dell think they are? Apple?
Evidently yes. Once again Apple leads and others follow...
(This was typed on a white MacBook that Apple painted black for an extra $150.)
I does look rather attractive for a Dell notebook.