Commercial signage tvs tend to be much more expensive and never really go on sale though. I can't even find out the price of this product without calling them to talk to a salesperson?
> They’re more expensive because they need to make up the lost revenue from advertising
If that is the case, shouldn't the product then be labeled that part of the price is subsidized by advertisement so that in a free market customers can make informed decisions about what products they buy and under what conditions? Otherwise there is a huge risk that manufacturers that add such hidden drawbacks can unfairly out compete others who do not, we get a lemon market.
Exactly, the problem is that market research clearly shows that most americans aren't ad-conscious enough to pay $50-$100 extra to not have an ad being the first thing they see when their TV turns on.
> Of course, there’s also the simple thing of “enterprise stuff costs more for no reason.”
That "no reason" is usually a combination of the following:
1) Support avenues - commercial customers want rapid support in case something breaks, including overnight / on-site repair. That infrastructure costs more money compared to consumer appliances where the customers have to ship stuff to a central repair place.
2) Quality. Consumers are used to stuff failing after 3 years and get the next new hot thing, commercial customers want a decade or more in life span with as few maintenance calls as possible - and especially they don't want to redesign enclosures when the model is no longer available so they demand longer shipping times - again, on the order of 10 years or more. Also, these displays generally have to work in a wide variety of environments - directly in sunlight/heat/cold, vibrating/otherwise moving. Higher quality components cost a lot more money. Add more money for certifications required for medical or military deployments.
3) Spare parts. Again, the longer availability terms mean more costs for the support infrastructure - while for ordinary TVs the parts stock can be emptied out after 3-5 years, stock has to be kept around for way longer for commercial TVs, and that includes buying up spare parts when a supplier EOLs a part.
4) Features. Commercial TVs tend to have more selection of (rare) inputs, e.g. BNC or SDI (the latter to drive an array of screens around a spread-out location from a single signal source, you can't do that with HDMI).
5) Firmware. After three to four years no manufacturer except Apple gives a flying f..k about the firmware, which means security holes go unpatched. Commercial customers demand longer update cycles (and better validated ones), again that costs more money.
6) Vandalism and elements protection. This one is huge and ties into the quality part. While your home TV won't need to be protected much against anything, vandals will go and attack anything without mercy - with anything from graffiti over hammer blows to hydrofluoric acid. Add to that nature: bird crap, vomit, tree sap, pollen, drunkards stumbling into your digital signage... or humidity/harsh rain.
7) Loss of revenue from advertising, as you mentioned.
Or because they don’t want to give you a reasonable choice but to send all your viewing data to them. Comparing prices of dumb TVs a few years ago to these “enterprise” ones, it seems unlikely that the premium is to make up for lost ad revenue.
Another possible factor is that enterprises are willing (or even required) to spend more money to keep their data private and secure.
Yeah, I think its primarily market segmentation. Or, you can charge these people more money because they have it.
They probably segment based on durability guarantees, these tv's maybe are slightly more durable / last longer in weird temperatures because consumer tv's can cut corners to make the sale, but commercial applications want something that lasts a long time and make fewer sales.
Yeah, and if you're lucky enough to find a seller that way, 9 times out of 10 it will be a wholesaler who will only sell you stuff if you have a corporate account, meaning you either own a business yourself or are cleared by your boss to purchase stuff.
Add to that the ludicrous shipping costs for anything weighing more than a box of cereal, insane import duties for anything worth more than say $50, plus a fat VAT slapped on top of all that, and most people in the rest of the world* will probably think twice about it.
TL;DR buying enterprise grade gear of any substance from across the globe as a consumer is a little bit more involved than ordering a pair of slippers frome some seller on AliExpress.
