Is competition making displays "cheaper"?

[coolpurplefan]

I just checked out some questions and answers on amazon.com to confirm what I suspected. The HP 22xw monitor I bought has a rigid stand. (For whatever reason, it says it's tiltable from -2 to +25 degrees.) Then I looked from the side and thought I had maybe a film on the screen I had to remove. I tried to take it off with my nail and noticed it's a matte screen. They say anti-glare screen but don't readily admit it's a matte screen.

I bought my HP 25xi in March of 2015 and it has a glossy screen (BrightView), which I prefer and tiltable stand. The way the stand is made, you have bolts that screw in that give you the impression it's solid once you've installed it. This is the kind of quality product I want and willing to pay for. The stand on the HP 22xw has has metal pieces that slide into the monitor. They're kind of hard to squeeze into the slot and don't give you the same reassuring impression.

I looked at the HP 23xw and 25xw and they look to also have matte screens and rigid stands. So, what's the point? HP is a big company. It's like Coca-cola wanting to sell you something peculiar thinking you're going to accept it because of their brand name. What do you think?

The next time I look for a monitor, it may be a 23 inch monitor with glossy finish and tiltable stand that may go out 5 to 10 degrees forward. (I have my monitors higher up on the desk so I have to look up at them, not down.)

 

[alcoholbob]

The theory of pure economic competition was created at a time when most companies were vertically integrated (where they made everything themselves).

Today due to globalism and government "free trade laws" most companies source from a small number or a single source, often all from the same country, and every multinational corporation is horizontally integrated, in other words most major corporations are essentially brands, and don't actually make anything themselves. U.S. free trade laws give special benefits to certain countries so that it becomes extremely profitable to outsource or to buy production from that particular country. Think of it as governments picking and choosing winners. Since governments distorting markets with trade laws that benefit certain players in being materials supplies or manufacturers, there's less competition.

Low prices from manufacturing countries like the Tiger economies in Asia is more due to economic central planning--money printing to to stimulate overproduction, and then buying up the government bonds of your trade partners to prevent their currencies from rising, rather than the market force of competition.