Matt BrittonFounder & CEO powering AI-driven consumer insights

Hardware is for All Companies -- Not Just Tech Companies

Name: Hardware is for All Companies -- Not Just Tech Companies
Uploaded: 2018-10-17T21:51:13Z
Channel: Matt Britton
Description: Speaker argues that hardware is increasingly critical for companies beyond tech firms because product commoditization (e.g., private-label retail goods)…

17 Oct 2018

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Speaker argues that hardware is increasingly critical for companies beyond tech firms because product commoditization (e.g., private-label retail goods) forces brands to create ecosystems — for example, a detergent maker could produce smart washers that reorder detergent via sensors — enabling recurring sales. Apple is cited as a pioneer of ecosystem strategy; companies that lack ecosystems (example: Samsung TVs) risk competing on price against cheaper alternatives like Vizio.

Hardware is becoming something that's more important not just to companies in technology, but to any company. What's happening now is any product's being commoditized. Retailers are building private label like Walmart and Target. And if you're gonna buy a brand name laundry detergent, what's sold at private label is really just as good. If you sell laundry detergent, then you should probably make laundry machines. Because if you can install the laundry machine and it has a sensor and it reorders the laundry detergent, then you've actually created an ecosystem where you can sell over time. That's the model that any company that sells packaged goods or consumable products need to go into. They need to own the whole ecosystem. Apple really paved the way for that. It's no longer about a point solution. Look like a company like Samsung. They make TVs, but they don't have an ecosystem now they're just in a race to the bottom to try to make the cheapest possible tv. And as Vizio's technology gets better and better, is the consumer really going to spend 5x for what they can buy For Vizio? Maybe not.