Why hardware is not just for tech companies!

Hardware is becoming something that's more important not just to companies in technology but to any company. What's happening now is any products being commoditized. Retailers are building private label like Walmart and Target. And if you're going to buy a brand name laundry detergent, what's sold and 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 you 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. You 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 a consumer really going to spend 5x for what they can buy for Vizio? Maybe not.