the truth about laser's cost!!

see this video!!!
http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=a1I8meIQV4E

and visit this link! http://greenlasers.webonsites.com/

...........Those Lasers that you purchase from Dragon, Wicked, etc, are all companies based out of Mainland China ( Where I currently work and live)

After doing some investigation on these products, I've learned that it costs approximately $1.75 U.S. per diode, per laser to construct. The casings, batteries and lenses are an additional $00.44.

So if you are paying more than 60 U.S. dollars per laser, you are getting SCREWED.

I understand that companies need profit, but Damn, they are going a bit too far.

Wake up... and smell the coffee.... that's life...

If it's too expensive..... don't buy....
If everyone didn't buy.... at some time the seller would
reduce his price to get rid of his product...

But while people are still buying.... the seller has no reason
to reduce his selling price....

You could easily buy the lasers at cost... but you would need to buy
the parts in quantities in the tens if not hundreds of thousands...

Or you could pay a round trip ticket to China and pick one up on the
street... : : Yeah that will be cheap...

Jerry

Im sure that a car doesnt cost 25,000$ to make either.... Thats just life

After you get all the $2 parts they just assemble themselves too Companies pay for alot more than production you know... But if I'm gonna go to China I'm gonna be sure to get alot of stuff.

1.75 USD for diodes? wow. But i guess what we are paying for is - Quality service
- Verified Outputs
-RMA possibility

But yea, I am sure everything electronic is cheaper there. I dont really mind getting "scr**d" as long as its not WL. Their prices are way out of sync with everything else.

If you start to study major businesses you will be amazed at the costs and profit margin added onto the cost of manufacturing. Most of the tim the price to the consumer has nothing to do with the cost of manufacturing a product. The price is "whatever the traffic will bear." That means that they will charge WHATEVER, people are willing to pay.

Peace,
dave

What do the crystals cost? What were the research and development costs? Who/what puts it all together? Who manages it? What building is the process housed in? What are the building maintenance costs? Who establishes a website for the demand in the US? Who pays for the hosting service? What is the shipping charge? Who packages it? With what? I could go on and on.

There's more at play in the price of a product than raw materials. Even after all that, $25 for a 50mW pen is still attainable? Who's complaining! If you would have claimed a 532nm laser the size of a pen for under $30 would be available soon to someone in the 90s, they'd have you thrown in the loony bin.

Sure, wicked is way overpriced, but we've known that for years. A 20 Oz. bottle of WATER costs $8.00 if you know where to look. That's got to be at least 10,000% profit. Everything is made for profit, otherwise it wouldn't be a business.

daguin said:

If you start to study major businesses you will be amazed at the costs and profit margin added onto the cost of manufacturing.  Most of the tim the price to the consumer has nothing to do with the cost of manufacturing a product.  The price is "whatever the traffic will bear."  That means that they will charge WHATEVER, people are willing to pay.

Peace,
dave

Click to expand...

Exactly.

Why do you think microprocessors get cheaper every year?

One reason is because they have to lower the prices to introduce a new line of processors (which should maintain the same line of prices of the previous generation).
Also, the mass production of the last generation is well established so materials cost less than when it started.
But just think about how they cut prices. For example, top of the line intels almost always start in a range of 900-1000 dollars, the next year they may cost around 500 dollars or less.

Creating the chip is very, VERY cheap. It could cost them 10 bucks, but they have to pay for materials, the staff, machines, power for the machines, etc.
Obviously that doesn't even amount to 1000 dollars per processor, but that's the way it works.

Niko said:

[quote author=daguin link=1232767319/0#5 date=1232814082]If you start to study major businesses you will be amazed at the costs and profit margin added onto the cost of manufacturing.  Most of the tim the price to the consumer has nothing to do with the cost of manufacturing a product.  The price is "whatever the traffic will bear."  That means that they will charge WHATEVER, people are willing to pay.

Peace,
dave

Click to expand...

Exactly.

Why do you think microprocessors get cheaper every year?

One reason is because they have to lower the prices to introduce a new line of processors (which should maintain the same line of prices of the previous generation).
Also, the mass production of the last generation is well established so materials cost less than when it started.
But just think about how they cut prices. For example, top of the line intels almost always start in a range of 900-1000 dollars, the next year they may cost around 500 dollars or less.

Creating the chip is very, VERY cheap. It could cost them 10 bucks, but they have to pay for materials, the staff, machines, power for the machines, etc.
Obviously that doesn't even amount to 1000 dollars per processor, but that's the way it works.[/quote]

You only forgot to add some... R&D costs...

Jerry

lasersbee said:

[quote author=Niko link=1232767319/0#7 date=1232817906][quote author=daguin link=1232767319/0#5 date=1232814082]If you start to study major businesses you will be amazed at the costs and profit margin added onto the cost of manufacturing.  Most of the tim the price to the consumer has nothing to do with the cost of manufacturing a product.  The price is "whatever the traffic will bear."  That means that they will charge WHATEVER, people are willing to pay.

Peace,
dave

Click to expand...

Exactly.

Why do you think microprocessors get cheaper every year?

One reason is because they have to lower the prices to introduce a new line of processors (which should maintain the same line of prices of the previous generation).
Also, the mass production of the last generation is well established so materials cost less than when it started.
But just think about how they cut prices. For example, top of the line intels almost always start in a range of 900-1000 dollars, the next year they may cost around 500 dollars or less.

Creating the chip is very, VERY cheap. It could cost them 10 bucks, but they have to pay for materials, the staff, machines, power for the machines, etc.
Obviously that doesn't even amount to 1000 dollars per processor, but that's the way it works.[/quote]

You only forgot to add some... R&D costs...

Jerry[/quote]


Of course.

I was told research and development is where most of the money needed to release a new chip series goes in these kinds of industries.

the Sonar II is $2000, when anyone can build it for under $80

mikeeey said:

the Sonar II is $2000, when anyone can build it for under $80

Click to expand...

So... if anyone can build it for under $80.00..... why don't you build it for under $80.00
and sell it for... let's say....$1000.00....  That's half the price of the Sonar II @ $2000.00...
(you would corner the market at that price)....
You would also make over $920.00 pure profit on each one you sell...
You would soon be rich... and the original Sonar II would no longer sell because
all the customers would buy yours at half the price.... : : :

Jerry

lasersbee said:

[quote author=mikeeey link=1232767319/0#10 date=1232832697]the Sonar II is $2000, when anyone can build it for under $80

Click to expand...

So... if anyone can build it for under $80.00..... why don't you build it for under $80.00
and sell it for... let's say....$1000.00....  That's half the price of the Sonar II @ $2000.00...
(you would corner the market at that price)....
You would also make over $920.00 pure profit on each one you sell...
You would soon be rich... and the original Sonar II would no longer sell because
all the customers would buy yours at half the price.... : : :

Jerry

[/quote]

Because he doesn't have the "Wickedlasers" trademark backing him up. It's all about the brand.

I can get original (not even second hand) Levi's jeans for 65 pesos (around 20 dollars) because I can enter the factory's deposit. When they sell it to shops on shopping malls, the price rises to 200-300 pesos (around 100 dollars).

Niko said:

[quote author=lasersbee link=1232767319/0#11 date=1232834346][quote author=mikeeey link=1232767319/0#10 date=1232832697]the Sonar II is $2000, when anyone can build it for under $80

Click to expand...

So... if anyone can build it for under $80.00..... why don't you build it for under $80.00
and sell it for... let's say....$1000.00....  That's half the price of the Sonar II @ $2000.00...
(you would corner the market at that price)....
You would also make over $920.00 pure profit on each one you sell...
You would soon be rich... and the original Sonar II would no longer sell because
all the customers would buy yours at half the price.... : : :

Jerry

[/quote]

Because he doesn't have the "Wickedlasers" trademark backing him up. It's all about the brand.

I can get original (not even second hand) Levi's jeans for 65 pesos (around 20 dollars) because I can enter the factory's deposit. When they sell it to shops on shopping malls, the price rises to 200-300 pesos (around 100 dollars).[/quote]


So you're saying...  there is a reason why the Sonar II is $2000....  :

(From reading the posts on LPF I got the impression that "Wickedlasers" did not have
a good reputation... and if that's true... their "trademark" wouldn't be a positive for sales.. :-?)

Jerry

Niko said:

[quote author=lasersbee link=1232767319/0#8 date=1232819808][quote author=Niko link=1232767319/0#7 date=1232817906][quote author=daguin link=1232767319/0#5 date=1232814082]If you start to study major businesses you will be amazed at the costs and profit margin added onto the cost of manufacturing.  Most of the tim the price to the consumer has nothing to do with the cost of manufacturing a product.  The price is "whatever the traffic will bear."  That means that they will charge WHATEVER, people are willing to pay.

Peace,
dave

Click to expand...

Exactly.

Why do you think microprocessors get cheaper every year?

One reason is because they have to lower the prices to introduce a new line of processors (which should maintain the same line of prices of the previous generation).
Also, the mass production of the last generation is well established so materials cost less than when it started.
But just think about how they cut prices. For example, top of the line intels almost always start in a range of 900-1000 dollars, the next year they may cost around 500 dollars or less.

Creating the chip is very, VERY cheap. It could cost them 10 bucks, but they have to pay for materials, the staff, machines, power for the machines, etc.
Obviously that doesn't even amount to 1000 dollars per processor, but that's the way it works.[/quote]

You only forgot to add some... R&D costs...

Jerry[/quote]


Of course.

I was told research and development is where most of the money needed to release a new chip series goes in these kinds of industries.[/quote]


You'd actually be surprised how much an individual computer chip actually costs to make. Having worked in a fab that made NAND flash and DRAM (same processes as making processors), it's quite a bit more expensive than you'd think. For starters, a new Intel fab designed around 300mm wafers will cost $2-4 BILLION just for the factory. The tools going into these fabs are amazingly expensive. The cheapest testing tools will run $1-2 million apiece (and they'll need dozens); the most expensive tools are the steppers (used for patterning/photolithography), and especially for the 45nm nodes and smaller, the steppers will be $50-60 million apiece, and again, they'll need dozens. The fab I was in had 6 steppers all in a row, and it was a fairly small fab, especially when compared to the size of what Intel does. And an individual

Laser diodes are a whole different deal, really, but similar in a lot of ways. You have to do fewer steps to make a laser diode, but at least 1 or 2 of those steps are MUCH more difficult (processors/silicon ICs don't require any epitaxial crystal growth, where epitaxial crystal growth is the most important step in laser diodes). then, you have the substrate problems. Silicon is up to 12 inch diameter wafers, and you can get a lot of chips out of a 300mm wafer, and silicon is relatively very cheap and easy to make. Laser diodes, however, require compound semiconductor substrates like sapphire, gallium nitride, or indium phosphide. These materials are not only much harder to make and therefore MUCH more expensive per area of wafer, but they also don't come in sizes nearly as big. So with silicon you have a 12 inch wafer going through the whole process and you get a batch out, with lasers you're using a 2 inch diameter wafer. You go still go through the entire process for the batch, but instead of getting a 12 inch disk full of chips out, you're only getting a fraction of that many chips for the same amount of work.

To me, it's amazing anything electronic is as cheap as it is when it gets to us. The capital investments up front and the investments to get any new chip line up and running are just astounding.

I'm not sure I understand.