Motor_Mouth
Banned
If you are the only entrant in the market, then your share will be 100% whether you sell ten or ten million devices. So until Microsoft has competition in that market, from Magic Leap or whoever, they can price it however they like and still be assured of 100% market share. It would be a pretty stupid businessman who would lose money for that 100% market share when he could put a hefty premium on it and still have a 100% share. To put it another way, it is better to make some money from a few sales than no money at all from lots of sales.
You can also look at how prices fall over time in the console market. When PS3 launched in Australia, it was Au$999 but over time Sony steadily lowered it, until it was just Au$299 by the time PS4 was released. I think Microsoft will adopt a similar strategy here - initially it will be priced high but if/when some competition arrives, or perhaps when they are 100% confident that the platform is perfect, or maybe when production ramps up and economies of scale kick in, they will drop the price to increase sales. Whatever, I am certain that if you want a HoloLens on Day 1, you are going to have to be prepared to pay a lot for it. My expectation is somewhere between US$1000 and US$1500 but I am prepared to pay twice that if I have to.
You can also look at how prices fall over time in the console market. When PS3 launched in Australia, it was Au$999 but over time Sony steadily lowered it, until it was just Au$299 by the time PS4 was released. I think Microsoft will adopt a similar strategy here - initially it will be priced high but if/when some competition arrives, or perhaps when they are 100% confident that the platform is perfect, or maybe when production ramps up and economies of scale kick in, they will drop the price to increase sales. Whatever, I am certain that if you want a HoloLens on Day 1, you are going to have to be prepared to pay a lot for it. My expectation is somewhere between US$1000 and US$1500 but I am prepared to pay twice that if I have to.