A company releases an i9 NUC powered 'console', with an 'exchangable ASUS "RTX" graphic unit, in a Coolermaster case - whose graphics card "will be upgradable" -
And no one realizes, that
- An intel NUC is not cost effective
- ASUS doesnt create graphic chips and isnt a partner in the videocard space that would be cost effective
- Coolermaster apparantly is there to provide a case and a powersupply, which - if you have to partner with them - isn't cost effective
- The thing has 'empty space' in it - which if you have to ship units 'en mass' isnt cost effective
- Sports a i9 for no reason, which isnt cost effective
And all people manage to talk about is 'how crazy that KFC releases console' and those specs are great. But not -
this is the dumbest marketing ploy ever, where they will sell 100 consoles, then 'run out of supply', or have them priced so outrageously (Intel needs a cut, Asus needs a cut, Nvidia (RTX?) needs a cut, Coolermaster needs a cut, KFC needs a cut), that they will sell 1000 units at most to people who are buying them for the lols.
If you are a PC builder, and you buy Intel i9 NUC, Asus RTX, and Coolermaster - you are doing it wrong (cost/performance is not what you find with intel NUCs and not with Coolermaster cases/powersupplies).
If you are a company trying to prep up a marketing scheme to benefit several suppliers (lets say Intel and Asus), you arent getting Coolermaster into the mix to dilute whatever visibility you have - marketing message wise - with you main suppliers, which always have to be large chip manufacturers. Its ridiculous, that Coolermaster even made it onto the partners list.
So looking at all of this - and even considering, that you throw marketing money at it - this doesnt make sense at scale. Not for intel. Not for ASUS, Coolermaster probably wouldnt care (they are a high margin business), and certainly not for KFC.
So - Coolermaster is building the things, and taking in support requests? Intel is supplying them with i9 NUCs at no discount. ASUS cant give any reasonable discount, because they arent the chip manufacturer. KFC does nothing, but provide some funding from marketing funds.
And everyone looses interest, once KFC runs out of marketing money. The thing will either be overpriced (cost performance will be horrible (considering how many partners are in there, and that you bet on an i9 NUC for no reason), or available in quantities so small - that even talking about it as a 'console' is misrepresentative, of what it is, namely a marketing ploy, to get KFC threads pop up on gaming forums.
Me dont want to cope, if people cant connect those dots. Me want to shout at marketing managers face. And give every gamer talking about this a breakdown of what it is - so they simply ignore it. And dont make wonderful viral marketing, that costs KFC nothing. Because they cant see the warnings signs here - which are skyhigh.
This is a product that SHOUTS, we didnt go for cost/performance, and dont want to sell them 'en mass'. There is no way, KFC would subsidize even the building costs of that thing to Coolermaster, after lets say 10k units. They cant recoup the money. They have nothing to do with gaming. But their marketing wants to address gamers.
There is no way Intel sees this as a prestige project, and undercuts the street value of their (overpriced) NUCs. There is no way ASUS can produce "RTX based graphics cards" at a low enough cost, for this to become a mass market product.