Dan Luke wrote:
I don't know, but I suspect not. There are also software and hardware
development costs to be covered.

I doubt that has much, if anything, to do with the cost of the 396. In
a free market economy a smart producer will charge what the market will
bear. The cost to "cover" the product only comes into play when
deciding whether or not to produce it, not in determining price.


You can't blame Garmin for charging what the market will bear when they have
a product that everyone wants and there is no competition; that's capitalism.
396s were selling so fast last year, I bet Garmin was wishing they'd priced
them a little higher.

Exactly Garmin knows that everyone has a price they are willing to pay
for the product. By starting prices higher and then lowering them they
are able to charge those that are willing to pay more, more, and those
willing to pay less, less. The concept is referred to as "perfect price
discrimination" in academic circles (the term "discrimination" in this
context not having a negative connotation). Some people mistakenly
believe that new products hit the market with a higher price because
companies are recoving costs, that is not so.

-Robert