News Logitech on Webcam Shortage: "We're Doing Everything We Can"

[Admin]

We spoke to Logitech about why the company has failed to meet previous promises for new webcam stock

Logitech on Webcam Shortage: "We're Doing Everything We Can" : Read more

 

[2Be_or_Not2Be]

As far back as February, the value C270 model was under $20 at retail. Logitech now lists it at ~ $40.

So they are making way more profit, and Logitech claims they somehow still can't make enough. Think about it - if they made $5 profit from a selling price of $20, then an increase to $40 is a profit of $25, which is a 500% gain! That gain is probably the same across almost all of their models.

So the real reason they can't make enough is due to their profits. Why make more & stabilize the pricing (i.e. lower the higher pricing) when you are raking in the profits?

 

[Co BIY]

But they can only realize that profit by selling a Webcam. I'm sure they are attempting to make as many as they can without overbuying production equipment or training workers who will be excess in a few months. Remember all their competitors are also responding to the same market and probably all increasing production.

They are not the only provider of webcams and will not benefit from withholding production.

Best thing to do is choose the one you want by features and reasonable markup from MSRP and order from a large supplier understanding that it is on backorder. Then you will get it fastest. It may never show "in stock" before you get it.

Did this with Dell on a Tom's recommended Razr. Got it about a month after being told it was back-ordered and not available for three months.

 

[watzupken]

Considering global lockdown took place some months back (even though there are still lockdowns currently), I don't believe there is still a continued strong demand for webcams now. I suspect is more of restocking that is propping up demand for now. They will need to be careful in terms of regulating supply or risk flooding the market with webcams.

 

[Co BIY]

Lockdowns are relaxed but everyone now considers a quality webcam a "must have" peripheral. And they are relatively cheap compared to the whole computer.

Still a lot of remote visiting going on and you'll need a webcam even if just for a once-a-week "distanced" meeting with a child's teacher.

There is very little "stocking" in modern supply chains so I suspect very little "restocking" is happening. No one wants to stock tech items. They go stale faster than many baked goods.

 

[grimfox]

As far back as February, the value C270 model was under $20 at retail. Logitech now lists it at ~ $40.

So they are making way more profit, and Logitech claims they somehow still can't make enough. Think about it - if they made $5 profit from a selling price of $20, then an increase to $40 is a profit of $25, which is a 500% gain! That gain is probably the same across almost all of their models.

So the real reason they can't make enough is due to their profits. Why make more & stabilize the pricing (i.e. lower the higher pricing) when you are raking in the profits?

That's only true if Logitech were selling them directly. The people making more profit by price gouging are the middlemen. Amazon, the people who use Amazon to list their wares and Best Buy/big box stores. Which are responding to simple supply and demand market forces. I doubt that Logitech is making much more money because they still have to compete with their competitors.

Overall Logitech stands to lose market share by not being able to keep up with demand as people "settle" for good enough products and tell their friends looking to buy Logitech that, "yeah, but they are so expensive, I bought a <generic knockoff> and its fine." Logitech needs to maintain supply or risk losing sales in the long run. Investors might be happy about short term price hikes (if Logitech were doing that) that result in high earnings one quarter, but next year when sales are down vs the 5 year average investors will pull out costing Logitech even more.

 

[2Be_or_Not2Be]

That's only true if Logitech were selling them directly. The people making more profit by price gouging are the middlemen. Amazon, the people who use Amazon to list their wares and Best Buy/big box stores. Which are responding to simple supply and demand market forces. I doubt that Logitech is making much more money because they still have to compete with their competitors.

Overall Logitech stands to lose market share by not being able to keep up with demand as people "settle" for good enough products and tell their friends looking to buy Logitech that, "yeah, but they are so expensive, I bought a <generic knockoff> and its fine." Logitech needs to maintain supply or risk losing sales in the long run. Investors might be happy about short term price hikes (if Logitech were doing that) that result in high earnings one quarter, but next year when sales are down vs the 5 year average investors will pull out costing Logitech even more.

The prices I'm quoting is from Logitech's own store. So they do sell them direct, and that's where I'm getting the profit margin. I can't say for sure that they are purposely keeping supplies low, but that sure keeps demand high for their webcams.

I definitely agree with NOT buying from the profiteers selling the different models on Amazon. Ironically, one of the best places to get that C270 model is those short windows when Best Buy has it for < $30. Imagine that, a "big box" retailer actually being one of the best on the prices of the webcams, when they are in stock.

Personally, I think Amazon should have the MSRP of every product shown plainly on each listing, when there is a listing by the original mfg for that product on Amazon. Those 3rd party listings especially need to have the MSRP pricing shown, not just "Available from these sellers", so at least people will have some idea on how much they are being gouged. If they still buy, then it's on them. Sadly, my favorites right now, ITX B550 boards and SFX power supplies, have a bunch of profiteering going on right now in Amazon.

 

[justinbower]

In all fairness, keep in mind that their prices to produce and distribute have likely gone up as well. Raw materials, labor issues with revamped working conditions, increased transportation costs, and the same for their distributors.