On Wed, 08 Jun 2005 08:59:32 -0400, Dave Hall
wrote:

No, they were expensive because the cost to manufacture them was much
higher. Both advances in technology and in manufacturing as well as
finding cheaper sources of labor have resulted in price reductions.
*****

Having worked in consumer electronics manufactoring here in the US and
abroad, I would hardly believe that the material cost for the most
expensive CB radio to exceed $50. Labor another $10 per unit. Most
likely the material cost is between $20 and $40 and labor about $3 to
$4. Manufacturer's markup is more likely 300% to 500%. Considering
that marketing and shipping costs will equal the sum total of direct
material and direct labor costs.

The last consumer electronic product that I worked on had a material
cost of $26 and a US labor cost of $7 per unit. Foreign labor cost in
Mexico only reduced labor to about $5 per unit. We were doing about 1+
million units per year. In high volume, high automated manufacturing,
labor is not your major cost factor. It is overhead and variations.
Overhead in the US has gone ape in the past ten yrs. This includes
electricity, insurance, worker training and other items. Variation is
the changes in cost of piece parts due to volitility in shipping cost
due mainly to variations in oil prices.

james