You too can now become a manufacturer overnight!
The availability of components and white label parts, as well as the expertise to assembe these into just about anything at attractive price points.
Or just buy and rebadge complete goods!
What are the implications?
- Zero differentiation.
- Hollow brands.
- Minimal actual choice for consumers.
- Lots of busy-ness in the short term.
- Lots of unsustainable businesses to fail. Resources to waste.
- More demand for easy-fix shallow marketing.
- More spam.
What are the opportunities?
- breakthrough creative combinations that actually create whole new product niches/categories from these components.
- create another same-same product but with that standout twist, that one compelling differentator. This could be a hardware feature that appeals strongly to a vertical market sector or niche tribe; or it could be a standout service.
Worked example: Anyone can become a laptop manufacturer almost overnight. Standardised components, assembly techniques, blah.
Compelling differentiator: specialised laptops thin clients for security-conscious clients. Network boot, no hard disk or any local storage, GPS tracking for asset management, and remote termination.
Breakthrough combination: use standard laptop, GPS and vacuum cleaner parts to create autonomous air quality sampling stations for installation around cities or in buildings.
Food for thought I hope.
