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Originally Posted by Berry One
30% increase in hardware sales is a proof they do not ignore their customers at all.
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How long was it between the 7100 and the 8700? What technological advances did the 8700 make? I am not asking that sarcastically, but being that I have held one once and don't use it, what user advantages did the 8700 bring that other devices didn't/don't have?
Also, where are you getting 30% increase in hardware sales? If you are basing that off of the last quarter, the introduction of the 8700 caused an uptick in those numbers. How many devices were sold to new (what I read as growth) customers and not existing customers upgrading? Since the quarter over quarter growth in subs has decreased, I dare say a good deal of those hardware sales were to existing customers. That being said, there is not a thing wrong with that sales model and shows incredible loyalty to the brand, which has never been questioned. My question is what can they do to make their next model different and better to keep those customers buying the devices? The new free server will bring new customers, though they will be smaller businesses that may not see the advantage of upgrading to the latest and greatest unless there are some major feature upgrades.
Bottom line, this space is in such an infancy stage right now that trying to predict where it will be a year from now, nevermind beyond that, is a crap shoot at best. Will make a helluva business school case study, though.