Comment by Palomides
19 hours ago
this is an article about patent trolling and government involvement, not innovation or competition on price
19 hours ago
this is an article about patent trolling and government involvement, not innovation or competition on price
Why do they feel the need to talk about it? Because their $1000 (which was recently reduced in price even) bedslinger is outclassed by a $349 Bambu Lab A1, and they have lost their position as the printer to buy.
What are you talking about? They're talking about it because it offers an insight into significant reasons WHY they can't match Bambu Lab on price.
They couldn't match Creality on price either, but for a time, Prusa was still the printer with the best quality. As in many industries, there was dependence on the idea that non-Chinese products supposedly had better quality, so you were willing to pay the higher prices. However, in 3D printing, and in other industries, that barrier is falling.
Obviously state support can lead to "unfair" price advantages, but in the example of the A1, even at an equivalent price, the A1 still holds the advantage (larger print bed and additional functionality, for example). This isn't the single-dimensional disadvantage that Josef Prusa is making it out to be.
It's deflection.
Getting government money to develop products without needing to ever be profitable is a pretty huge hack.