An article in the BBC website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21084430 describes plans by Nokia to make 3-D print files available to customers so they can print cases on demand on 3-D printers. The ease of access to customizable cases thus lowers the customer’s cost to accessorize the phone. But will reducing the costs for cases increase customer preference and thus demand for Nokia phones ? Will the main beneficiaries be the case manufacturers, whose costs of production are now decreased or will it increase competition across case manufacturers and reduce costs for consumers ? Will the lack of a profit incentive for case manufacturers in turn decrease the variety of cases available to consumers and thus hurt Nokia ? Or is this the future for OEMs i.e., to ensure that customer costs are not increased by accessory manufacturers ?
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Full disclosure: I own stock in three 3D printer companies.
This is exactly why 3D printers are the future!!! Why do we need a complicated supply chain when we can just include flexibility as part of the product directly to the consumer or a local store?