Happy New Year!
Sorry for the long silence. Truth be known I took a nice vacation this December and consciously avoided as much XOOT work as possible. It was a relaxing time and I hope your time went well too.
Now back to XOOT’s current pickle.
The manufacturing cost is high and we’re really trying to stick to our $500 retail price target. The problem is there’s not a lot of room for profit at that price. We’ve been chasing down a couple ideas but so far none have borne fruit.
Why is it Costing so Much?
There are over 100 custom parts that make up a XOOT system (not counting all the off the shelf parts, screws, bearings and ect…).
- The XOOT design is effectively two arm systems in one. (see the drawings in the blog title)
- The first set of arms attach to the back of the desk then attach to the second set of arms.
- The second arms stand on legs and pivot the screen toward the user.
Why two arms systems? The full expansion got complicated. I ended up creating a whole web page to explain it. See the page: Deep Dive: Anti-Topple Arms – XOOT
- The XOOT design uses an electrically powered, touch activated, braking system.
This means power supplies, circuits, wires, electromagnets etc… This makes moving the screen smooth and easy but adds to the cost.
In addition:
- Each XOOT system uses over about 30 lbs / 13 kg of steel. This makes for heavy duty rigid arms to hold the screen steady when drawing.
- The XOOT system is designed as a professional quality device. We put a lot of thought into making a product that will last and be upgradeable as new drawing screens come out.
Bear with us while we keep working through these issues.
Thanks,
-Chris
One thing to add regarding your dual-arm design vs the base tray, it looks like your design could be significantly lighter than the base tray. The base tray design relies on a weighted base to prevent the monitor from toppling the whole thing over. The weight that is added by the base tray is quite substantial actually, more than doubling the weight of the Cintiq itself. It really requires a desk with additional support structure below the desktop to support it. I have a separate desk and CPU setup that’s dedicated to a 32″ Cintiq and if you look closely at it, you can see that the middle of the desk sags a bit under the weight of the tablet. Your design looks like it could be a lot lighter and easier to move around on the desk. Best!
Hi Marcel,
The Wacom Ergo stand weighs 41.9 pounds and the XOOT stand with the Cintiq 32 Kit should weigh around 31.7 ponds, (about 10 pounds less). Our arm is lighter but both arms are heavy.
On a side note,
Our original prototype weighed only 15 pounds, but it was wobbly. Each new prototype tested the stability of the screen. Then, each part that contributed to screen wobble was addressed. For the most part we tried to clever with our bracing to not add weight. Though sometimes, you just have to throw more steel at a part to keep it from bending. Over the course of a lot of prototypes XOOT became a lot more rigid but it also gained weight… 🙁
– Chris
You should charge more for this system rather than keep the price so low that it causes you headaches. People will recognize that this product is superior to any other stand on the market. Plenty of people, such as myself, will gravitate towards the best possible product they can buy, even if it comes at a premium. I think you are selling yourself short by keeping the Xoot system’s price equal to the Wacom Ergo stand, because the Ergo stand is a cheaper product. One doesn’t expect to buy a Tesla for the price of a Ford.
In your earlier posts I saw you mentioned charging $700. I say if that cures your headaches, then that’s what you should do. As I’ve said before, I would be willing to pay as much as $1000.
Hello William,
Thanks for your positive outlook. Raising XOOT’s price has not been ruled out. However, I’ve also received complaints that any price increase will put XOOT out of reach for that person. For XOOT to be a viable product in a niche market of professional digital pen interface screens we need it to appeal to as many artists, designers and creatives as possible.
Thus, we’re making sure we exhaust all our options before tampering with the target price.
-Chris
I second what William said, this arm simply won’t have alternatives and I am also willing to pay a premium for a tool that I use to earn my living. But of course, the point about wider appeal is also fair, just pitching in to let you know that I’m also willing to pay $700-$1000 for your product.
Hi Nikita,
Noted! I see they you’re the second comment willing to pay a higher price in order to make XOOT a reality.
However, I’m a spreadsheet type of guy. I’ve developed some fairly complicated models that forecast what’s needed to get XOOT to profitability. Almost any way you tweak the numbers the biggest factor to profitability is, Volume of sales. My concern is that raising price will decrease Volume.
Granted… forecasting demand for a new product is almost complete guesswork, but my simulations point to Volume as a number I should be very concerned about.
Inevitably, the cogs are in motion. Let’s see how the latest’s price reduction strategies work out, then plan from there.
Thanks for speaking up.
-Chris
(PS. The “price reduction strategies” in no way effects features or quality!)
I feel the same Chris. As artist looking to produce the best work possible we want the best tools possible. I would be willing to pay $800.00, if not a bit more. It seems to me that your product should be positioned as the best not the least expensive. People will respect you for this. You don’t need every customer just the ones who resonate with you and your product. Set the price that lets you produce a product that is high quality and makes you the money you need.