[emrelights1973]

Bill of material doesn't include things like manufacturing cost and R&D and salary to people. It's the most misleading way to evaluate cost. 

Please don't fall into the same tech journalist trap of listing "BOM for this phone is 100 bucks so selling it for 200 is a ripoff!". 

Nobody said anything about the cost but the difference of gold vs black Walkmans
Both include all opex and capex in the pricing so in theory the only cost difference is the material
Not the total price, got It? But the difference between 2 models

 

[gerelmx1986]

I wouldn't call os con caps inferior as they ate Panasonic

 

[nanaholic]

Which dap using your carrier Data?
Do you know that you can download 100 album to your dap and listen them offline Right?

 
My home internet connection is slow because I live in an old area with poor copper lines and no access to fast fibre - my home connection is slower than 3G, plus I don't stay at home much. 
My work environment doesn't let me use WiFi for personal use (I work in a Japanese company so they have very strict rules).
 
Maybe you need to understand people have different problems and priorities.

 

[Whitigir]

Apple is simply going away from 3.5 mm connected headphones to drum up more business.  Headphone sales are stagnant because once people get a pair they like they stick with them.  Take away the 3.5 mm jack and you force people to buy new headphones.

Don't kid yourself into thinking Apples motives aren't purely profit driven.  Apple pulled out of the iPod market for the most part, tablet sales are flat and iphone sales are dropping along with profit.  Accessories like headphones have a higher profit margin than electronics do for the most part.  Apple is struggling to find new revenue streams and headphones are one of them.

As for Sony's use of copper on the 1Z it is another marketing ploy to trick buyers into thinking it makes a sonic difference.  Aluminum goes for about $0.71/pound US current price, copper about $1.75/pound US. The 1Z weighs just over one pound so basically the copper casing adds about $1.04 to the cost of the 1Z over using aluminum on the 1A.  I have no idea how much gold plating Sony is using on the 1Z but again gold plating on the outside of the DAP will have no sonic benefits at all. You can buy 24 karat gold plating solutions for as little as $100.00 for 32 OZ (4800 sq inches) to the public so even less for Sony in large quantities. So gold plating not nearly as expensive as it looks. Nickel is about $4.00/pound and you won't need much on a device this small so lets say another $0.50.

The marketing guys can try to spin it any way they want but it all comes down to justification for gouging Sony customers. Per 1Z unit $1.04 more for copper (over aluminum), maybe $0.50 for the layer of nickel and lets be generous and say 8 oz of gold plating per 1Z ($25.00).  I come up with $26.54 in added cost, lets round up to $30.00 to be safe over the casing for the 1A.  

More expensive TF capacitors about $0.64 each vs about $0.30 for OSCON capacitors on the 1A  Again maybe a few bucks difference. So lets call it $35.00 for everything so far. Adding another 128 GB memory chip into the 1Z maybe another $30.00.  So even if my estimates are a little low at $65.00 lets call it $75.00 per unit higher production cost for the 1Z over the 1A.  That is an obscene amount of profit on the 1Z over the 1A even if you double my estimates.

Still think the 1Z is worth the premium price?  At least be smart and wait a few months until the price comes down if you are still serious about it. 

Dude, you can pay that much and all you got are separated non functioning components . Hell, you can even pay an engineer as much as $3,000 and supply all the above and he wouldn't even make a Player as good as 1Z or even close.

My point is that it is intel property, and such product will be priced accordingly to the R&D. No fool want to sell things overpriced in a free competition market, and no fools want to get under paid. Therefore, the only point I would agree with you is the market power and it decisive facts.

Remember, without Sony, there wouldn't be a 1Z.....and if there was no 1Z, you could never have paid enough to have it!!!!

 

[nanaholic]

Nobody said anything about the cost but the difference of gold vs black Walkmans
Both include all opex and capex in the pricing so in theory the only cost difference is the material
Not the total price, got It? But the difference between 2 models

 
No you don't get it.  Different materials may be different in how much it cost to manufacture and the cost in the manufacturing process, that's why listing BOM is completely misleading. 

 

[gerelmx1986]

We don't care about Apple, if they will force people get new headphones they will make people get the earpods, airpods, beats solo 3 or power beats

Those ain't quality headphones

 

[emrelights1973]

My home internet connection is slow because I live in an old area with poor copper lines and no access to fast fibre - my home connection is slower than 3G, plus I don't stay at home much. 
My work environment doesn't let me use WiFi for personal use (I work in a Japanese company so they have very strict rules).

Maybe you need to understand people have different problems and priorities.

Sony I guess

 

[gerelmx1986]

The company I work with, software and IT services also does not allow WiFi to avoid leaking or stealing customers or intellectual property

 

[emrelights1973]

No you don't get it.  Different materials may be different in how much it cost to manufacture and the cost in the manufacturing process, that's why listing BOM is completely misleading. 

No you don't get it.  Different materials may be different in how much it cost to manufacture and the cost in the manufacturing process, that's why listing BOM is completely misleading. 

You need a mold that's all, once you have the mold silver Cooper alliminium is the cost of material
Cost difference of making similar items out of different material is the cost of material, and the profit margin on a luxury item, the junk of the price you paying is RnD, capex and sales marketing costs etc, so the difference between two models using similar but maybe so easy different material is just the cost of material that's all
You can make all titanium Walkman and the difference will be the cost of titanium and maybe a mold

 

[Whitigir]

You need a mold that's all, once you have the mold silver Cooper alliminium is the cost of material
Cost difference of making similar items out of different material is the cost of material, and the profit margin on a luxury item, the junk of the price you paying is RnD, capex and sales marketing costs etc, so the difference between two models using similar but maybe so easy different material is just the cost of material that's all
You can make all titanium Walkman and the difference will be the cost of titanium and maybe a mold

Nope, the cost differences are the differences of both models. You can analyze the material differences all you want, but if Sony did not make a different product, you would not have a chance to buy it at any "price"

 

[tienbasse]

Nope, the cost differences are the differences of both models. You can analyze the material differences all you want, but if Sony did not make a different product, you would not have a chance to buy it at any "price"

Completely agrees here.
 
Given the high-end positioning of these models, we're talking small production scale and relatively large net margins.
Discussions around manufacturing costs are pointless for "luxury" items such as those DAPs.
 
Pricing is done PURELY based on market and what people are willing to pay for high-end items. Anything else is non-relevant.
And since those forums are full of people willing to throw away a few thousand dollars based on non-measurable specs (SQ first, features last), prices are going up tremendously.
 
Not that I'm not willing to pay a high price, but my choice is based strictly on specs and built quality, since any monkey can pick up high quality electronic components those days.
SQ in those prices is purely a question of personal taste.

 

[Leviticus]

Has it been confirmed that the WM1 models are volume capped in Europe?

 

[gerelmx1986]

Has it been confirmed that the WM1 models are volume capped in Europe?

for secueity buy it on accessory jack or pricejapan

 

[Mark2010]

for secueity buy it on accessory jack or pricejapan

Problem is if your buying it from Europe you risk getting hit with import charges.

 

[PrinceOfEgypt]

When is thw WM1a available and what is the price?
I think im going to sell my Mojo, its too cumbersome to strap to a phone