Thunderbolt: Why so expensive?

Thunderbolt technology has been around for several years and there are many external enclosures that have TB connectivity. Enclosures that have Firewire and USB 3 are common and inexpensive. Why is TB connectivity still so pricey?

Not widely in use, supply and demandâ€¦ .

Gouging because they can get away with it?

I suspect that it's just plain expensive technology to begin with, and since it's proprietary Apple property it's probably extremely over-priced, particularly from non-Apple vendors.

Remember the FireWire debacle?

Just like the Toyota Prius (which is an expensive little car), Apple has just about all of the market for Thunderbolt, and thus it will be expensive for some time.

Originally Posted By: artie505

I suspect that it's just plain expensive technology to begin with, and since it's proprietary Apple property it's probably extremely over-priced, particularly from non-Apple vendors.

Thunderbolt is NOT an Apple proprietary product. Like USB it is an Intel product. In fact Thunderbolt 3 and USB C (used on the new MacBook) use the same connector. Apple has always been an early adopter of new technologies and that inevitably has implications for cost and risk. I am confident that by the time PCs have adopted Thunderbolt and prices have come down, Apple will have moved on to still newer technologies. If you want cheap, buy Dell not Apple.

Originally Posted By: joemikeb

Originally Posted By: artie505

I suspect that it's just plain expensive technology to begin with, and since it's proprietary Apple property it's probably extremely over-priced, particularly from non-Apple vendors.

Thunderbolt is NOT an Apple proprietary product. Like USB it is an Intel product. In fact Thunderbolt 3 and USB C (used on the new MacBook) use the same connector. Apple has always been an early adopter of new technologies and that inevitably has implications for cost and risk. I am confident that by the time PCs have adopted Thunderbolt and prices have come down, Apple will have moved on to still newer technologies. If you want cheap, buy Dell not Apple.

Thanks for the clarification. Yet, since Apple is the only company that has, so far, adapted it, it will remain expensive. Interesting that no other companies (that I am aware of) adapted Firewire 800, which was expensive for some time. Wonder if Thunderbolt will follow the same pattern?

Well, this time I DID get hung on an assumption...thanks for correcting me.

Originally Posted By: honestone

Thanks for the clarification. Yet, since Apple is the only company that has, so far, adapted it, it will remain expensive. Interesting that no other companies (that I am aware of) adapted Firewire 800, which was expensive for some time. Wonder if Thunderbolt will follow the same pattern?

PCs are sold in a commodity market unlike Apple which sells in a quality and performance market. A few cents in cost to manufacture or a few dollars in selling price will make or break a product in the PC market and that market is declining world wide. On the other hand Apple is getting a bit more of that declining market primarily from new purchasers brought into the store by the iPhone and iPad. Because of their experience with the iPhone and iPad those buyers are willing to pay more to get Apple quality and performance and are not shopping primarily on cost. PC manufacturers are all struggling in a declining market environment so they are understandably reluctant to try anything new, especially if it might increase their cost or price.

Apple spends far more on research and development than any one else in the industry. PC manufacturers sit back and wait to see what Apple does that is successful and then only if they can do it cheaply enough they adopt the new technology. Staying on the leading edge is not cheap and Apple greatly prefers to lead not follow.

As I said if you want cheap buy Dell, not Apple.

Originally Posted By: joemikeb

A few cents in cost to manufacture...will make or break a product in the PC market....

Case in point... Didn't FireWire flop because Apple wanted 50Â¢ per PC...just too much for the low end market to bear?

Originally Posted By: joemikeb

Originally Posted By: honestone

Thanks for the clarification. Yet, since Apple is the only company that has, so far, adapted it, it will remain expensive. Interesting that no other companies (that I am aware of) adapted Firewire 800, which was expensive for some time. Wonder if Thunderbolt will follow the same pattern?

PCs are sold in a commodity market unlike Apple which sells in a quality and performance market. A few cents in cost to manufacture or a few dollars in selling price will make or break a product in the PC market and that market is declining world wide. On the other hand Apple is getting a bit more of that declining market primarily from new purchasers brought into the store by the iPhone and iPad. Because of their experience with the iPhone and iPad those buyers are willing to pay more to get Apple quality and performance and are not shopping primarily on cost. PC manufacturers are all struggling in a declining market environment so they are understandably reluctant to try anything new, especially if it might increase their cost or price.

Apple spends far more on research and development than any one else in the industry. PC manufacturers sit back and wait to see what Apple does that is successful and then only if they can do it cheaply enough they adopt the new technology. Staying on the leading edge is not cheap and Apple greatly prefers to lead not follow.

As I said if you want cheap buy Dell, not Apple.

Well said, and I could not agree more! That is of course why I have stuck with Apple for so, so long, starting with the venerable Apple IIE, then upgrading to the Apple IIGS, and finally starting with the Power Mac 6100 back in 1996, been through about 10 Macs (or so) since. I never, never wanted a cheap PC, and especially given the crappy OS!

Originally Posted By: honestone

Originally Posted By: joemikeb

Originally Posted By: artie505

I suspect that it's just plain expensive technology to begin with, and since it's proprietary Apple property it's probably extremely over-priced, particularly from non-Apple vendors.

Thunderbolt is NOT an Apple proprietary product. Like USB it is an Intel product. In fact Thunderbolt 3 and USB C (used on the new MacBook) use the same connector. Apple has always been an early adopter of new technologies and that inevitably has implications for cost and risk. I am confident that by the time PCs have adopted Thunderbolt and prices have come down, Apple will have moved on to still newer technologies. If you want cheap, buy Dell not Apple.

Thanks for the clarification. Yet, since Apple is the only company that has, so far, adapted it, it will remain expensive. Interesting that no other companies (that I am aware of) adapted Firewire 800, which was expensive for some time. Wonder if Thunderbolt will follow the same pattern?

DisplayPort is extremely common among the PCs where I work. Perhaps 85% or more of the 3,500 windows boxes here are attaching to their monitor with the full-size displayport connector. (looks a lot like a locking HDMI) But not thunderbolt, not yet. The PC laptops are using mini displayport though, when they don't use HDMI or mini HDMI. So many video connectors! And HDMI / Displayport don't adapt easily either. (finding a way to hook an AppleTV to a projector with a DisplayPort connector is a pain!)