With more than 20 years of experience in the social sector and many years of experience in selling specialized devices and equipment for blind and visually impaired people, we sometimes encounter indignation from potential buyers: “why is this Braille printer so expensive?”, “Yes, for the price of this talking push-button phone, you can buy an iPhone! "," Why are these chess so expensive? ", Similar thoughts came to us ourselves, albeit at the level of emotions. So let's figure it out now together why this is happening and who is to blame?
What is the final price of each product?
The first stage is the development of the device. Even changing the design of the device, increasing the battery and screen, reducing the thickness of the case, and so on, require complex work of engineers. After all, you need not only to install the details, but also the quality and heat sink, and electrical pickups, and shielding, and convenience for further maintenance and repair, and ease of use for the user. The described applies to phones or video magnifiers, but is true for almost any complex equipment.
The second stage is software development. Even changing an existing hardware model requires new firmware. What can we say about completely new devices, with new functions that have never been implemented before. This work is almost more difficult than the first stage. Very often, the design bureau of manufacturers includes more programmers than engineers and technicians.
The third stage is preparation for production. Yes, yes, not the production itself yet, since it is still necessary to make molds for plastic parts, the corresponding equipment for boards and microcircuits, plugs, gaskets and other things, the manufacture of the supporting frame of the device from metal, painting and many, many little things.
All described operations are valid both for mass production of hundreds of thousands of copies of units, and for several tens of devices. All this needs to be thought out, arranged, written down in software and made to drawings and sketches. All this work requires payment to specialists and is scattered, roughly speaking, on each released device. But if this is a mass product, such as a regular smartphone or TV, then this amount of costs is divided into hundreds of thousands of devices or even hundreds of millions, like iPhones. Thus, each of the buyers of these devices, having paid for it in the store, pays a maximum of one thousandth of a percent of the development costs. Usually for such series it is about a few dollars, even if expensive designers were involved in the development. But what if the device is highly specialized and only a few hundred of such devices are produced? Moreover, I had to work on it much more, since this is not a change and refinement of the old model, but a completely new unique product? So it turns out that each device already accounts for up to one percent of development costs. And that's hundreds of dollars.
We say that manufacturers take advantage of weak competition and unreasonably raise prices, but is this true?
Let's take a look at the global market for tiflo technology and analyze what is happening with it.
Enabling Technologies, which has been involved in braille printers for more than 40 years, suddenly declared that the market required complex integrated solutions and joined forces with HumanWare to develop, sell and service braille printers.
after 40 years of work, she is forced to merge with the American company Fcaneom Scientific. Note that Optelec had higher quality devices but couldn't weather the storm of the market economy.
The situation is even worse with the well-known German company BAUM Retec, known for its Braille Vario displays and high-quality video enlargers. By releasing products of reference quality, the company was forced to declare itself bankrupt. For some time, its branch in the USA continued to work, assemblers who worked with BAUM continued to work, but the client is more dead than alive.
So where is the untold wealth earned from blind users thanks to inflated prices?
Why do old firms leave the market, merge or merge into larger ones, and new players do not appear on the market? No, sometimes new startups appear, show Braille displays on a new principle or smart glasses for 5 thousand euros, but they don’t make much weather on the market, some generally tend to believe that the tiflo technology market is stagnating.
Let's look at a few more or less popular suggestions or demands that we sometimes hear about prices.
We are told: "Manufacturers should take into account that the equipment is intended for the disabled and not moderate their appetites, not overprice".
Yes, each manufacturer, before exploring a new market for itself, developing or even just selling a new device, analyzes the prospects, taking into account demand, competition, and purchasing power. Purchasing power among people with disabilities is not too high, even in wealthy European countries or the United States. Blind people rarely even belong to the middle class in terms of income, and given the rather high prices for special devices, not every blind European or American can afford a Braille display with a printer, smart glasses and a talking microwave without government help. That is, there is no significant demand for these products and sales are largely dependent on government programs of social assistance. If not for this, we would not have seen even half of the devices that are now being produced. The goal of the manufacturer is to make a profit, and not to take on social functions, providing blind people with various equipment at cost. These enterprises do not receive preferences and benefits from their countries, at most - we, as buyers, do not pay VAT.
We hear: "The manufacturer must understand that in our country they cannot pay that much and must reduce prices for us, otherwise they will not sell anything at all."
Countries with low purchasing power of blind people and an almost complete absence of government support programs are generally of little interest to manufacturers. When we, as a potential partner, turn to a manufacturer with a partnership and distribution offer, we are immediately offered to provide analytics on sales prospects. Preparing a device for sale in a new country implies some financial costs and the developer's time for localization - translation of the interface menu, language tables, and documentation. If we are talking about sales of a couple of printers per year, then the manufacturer will not do this - he is interested in sales volumes. If we want to sell, nevertheless, these two printers a year, and even ask to reduce the price in view of the poverty of the population and the lack of state support, we will simply be laughed at or culturally sent, at best, to work with the ministry on the inclusion of devices in government programs. Another thing is if we managed to lobby for certain programs and guarantee sales at the level of hundreds or thousands of pieces of equipment per year. This is significant for the manufacturer, and under such prospects and orders, we can get a special price. But no one will cut prices out of pity, no one will cut prices for the sake of increasing sales on a ridiculous scale.
So what to do? Who will take pity and take care of us?
UK" lang="RU">Maybe you think that the question is purely rhetorical and there is no answer to it, that no one needs it and no one should do it? No, there is an answer to this question, or rather even three.
- We, who need these devices, who are not able to buy them with all our desire, are the first and most interested people in solving this problem. But we need to think about whether we are definitely unable to earn money, or is it just easier for us not to try to do this, justifying ourselves with disability? If the job is really bad, look further.
- Most of us have relatives and friends. It is not shameful to hint to children about their problems and ask them to help solve them. It's embarrassing when kids buy the latest smartphones, a floor-to-ceiling TV and a car "as good as people's" and don't think about buying their parents a special phone or a good walking cane.
- We are part of society, citizens of the state, which is entrusted with social functions. We pay taxes, even buying medicines at the pharmacy, bread at the bakery, paying the rent. We fulfill our obligations to the state and society, therefore we have the right to expect and even demand the same from the state and society. Not just whining and complaining to others, but to demand and achieve. It is the state that has the obligation to provide a blind person with basic needs for technical means of rehabilitation, if it does not provide a sufficient level of social benefits for self-purchase. We hear that there is a crisis now, it is too expensive and unrealistic now, what children, the army, the sick and the unemployed need. We have been hearing this for many years and things are still there.
I would not like to end the article on this "positive" note. Probably, all these "holidays of a blind person" and "White Cane" with pseudo-attention and pseudo-help cause such a reaction. And people with disabilities who are waiting and demanding understanding and help from anyone, but not from the state.
You have read this article and now you can sit down and think step by step what you can do to improve your life with modern rehabilitation means. And you do not need to approach this immediately with disbelief in your own strength. Think well, plan and proceed, everything will work out for you!
© S. Moskalets