Danc from Lost Garden tells why he thinks convergence, or
an all-in-one product strategy, is a poor business model, especially for game consoles. From the article: "I'm not
a fan of convergence devices that promise to do everything. They tend to under perform in the market due to a variety
of factors."
He cites the following four reasons where convergence fails:
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Confusing benefit statement - Vague to the consumer like PSP's "Experience entertainment without boundaries" promise to the gamer.
-
Compromised solution that competes poorly against single purpose solutions - "Look at the classic VCR TV. You end up with a crappy TV and a crappy VCR glued together by a weakened user interface."
-
Higher cost of entry - A multi-function device forces you to buy a bundle which generally cost more.
-
Single point of failure - When one piece fails, the whole thing fails.
Do you think convergence can work for game consoles? Do gamers want this?
