--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To me, the consumer-electronics business…" description: "\"To me, the consumer-electronics business feels a lot like the PC business in the late 1980s. It's an inefficient market.\" — Ted Waitt" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9df/ted-waitt-9480_1980s_to-me-the-consumer-electronics-business_2449426.jpg" --- # To me, the consumer-electronics business feels a lot like… ![“To me, the consumer-electronics business feels a lot like the PC business in the late 1980s. It's an inefficient market.” quote by Ted Waitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9df/ted-waitt-9480_1980s_to-me-the-consumer-electronics-business_2449426.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9df/ted-waitt-9480_1980s_to-me-the-consumer-electronics-business_2449426.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9df/ted-waitt-9480_1980s_to-me-the-consumer-electronics-business_2449426.jpg) > “To me, the consumer-electronics business feels a lot like the PC business in the late 1980s. It's an inefficient market.” [Ted Waitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-waitt/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Comparing consumer electronics to late‑80s PCs points out market inefficiencies, suggesting opportunities for disruption and improvement. **In simple terms:** Consumer electronics market is inefficient like 1980s PCs. Key Takeaway Identify and address market inefficiencies. Themes market analysis innovation technology trends Mood analytical forward‑looking Type strategic business When to use this quote - product development - investment - policy making - entrepreneurship Key Concepts economics strategic planning Questions to Reflect On - What specific inefficiencies can be fixed today? - How can new entrants overcome entrenched market habits? A Different Perspective Inefficiencies may be due to regulation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [1980s](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/zz-1980s-459/) [1980S Inefficient](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/1980s-inefficient-558438/) [Business](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/business/) [Consumer Electronics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consumer-electronics-558436/) [Electronics Business](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/electronics-business-558435/) [Inefficient Market](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inefficient-market-558437/) [Investing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/investing/) [Late](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/late/) [Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like/) [Market](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/market/) [Pc Business](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pc-business-558439/) ## Related quotes > [The PC business is not about price, it's about value, or what you can give the customer for his or her money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-waitt/the-pc-business-is-not-about-price-it-s-about-value-or-what-you-can/) [Ted Waitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-waitt/) > [We hope to be a leader in the convergence of consumer electronics and communications.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-waitt/we-hope-to-be-a-leader-in-the-convergence-of-consumer-electronics-and/) [Ted Waitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-waitt/) > [The Chinese are quite entrepreneurial. Remember when Lenovo bought IBM's PC division. It was said that China didn't need a brand name, China didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-peters/the-chinese-are-quite-entrepreneurial-remember-when-lenovo-bought-ibm/) [Tom Peters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-peters/) > [We own 18 percent of just the PC business. Now that's only about 60 percent of our business today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-own-18-percent-of-just-the-pc-business-now-that-s-only-about-60/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [As somebody who participates in the overall PC ecosystem, it's totally great when faster wireless networks and standards come out or when graphics get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabe-newell/as-somebody-who-participates-in-the-overall-pc-ecosystem-it-s-totally/) [Gabe Newell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabe-newell/) > [When I look back through the 1980s and 1990s, those were some of the funniest experiences I had and, sometimes, some of the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-waitt/when-i-look-back-through-the-1980s-and-1990s-those-were-some-of-the/) [Ted Waitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-waitt/) > [We invented television and stuck with it for 50 years, and then I decided to get out of that. I would like people to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frans-van-houten/we-invented-television-and-stuck-with-it-for-50-years-and-then-i/) [Frans van Houten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frans-van-houten/) > [Go where your customers take you! For example, did you know that Sony's first product was a rice cooker? Since abandoning the rice cooker,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naveen-jain/go-where-your-customers-take-you-for-example-did-you-know-that-sony-s/) [Naveen Jain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naveen-jain/) > [I guess for me, I keep saying the words 'consumer electronics,' 'consumer tech' - the biggest purchase decisions people make a lot of times…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marques-brownlee/i-guess-for-me-i-keep-saying-the-words-consumer-electronics-consumer/) [Marques Brownlee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marques-brownlee/) > [When it comes to consumer electronics, I'm a big fat sucker, because even though I know you should never, ever buy anything until the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-orlean/when-it-comes-to-consumer-electronics-i-m-a-big-fat-sucker-because/) [Susan Orlean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-orlean/) > [It seems that every generation needs its public, tweedy, literary personality to sell its consumer electronics. To whatever degree I can live up to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hodgman/it-seems-that-every-generation-needs-its-public-tweedy-literary/) [John Hodgman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hodgman/) > [I think right now the jury is out on where and how much profit is available in the consumer electronics industry, because if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-think-right-now-the-jury-is-out-on-where-and-how-much-profit-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The engineering is long gone in most PC companies. In the consumer electronics companies, they don't understand the software parts of it. And so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/the-engineering-is-long-gone-in-most-pc-companies-in-the-consumer/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [I never stopped dreaming of how to create a wearable to communicate with our thoughts, how to do this at consumer electronics pricing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-lou-jepsen/i-never-stopped-dreaming-of-how-to-create-a-wearable-to-communicate/) [Mary Lou Jepsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-lou-jepsen/) > [When I got started, I was a sideshow. At my first Consumer Electronics Show, in 1977 in Chicago, people came from all over the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-laurel/when-i-got-started-i-was-a-sideshow-at-my-first-consumer-electronics/) [Brenda Laurel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-laurel/) ## More by Ted Waitt > [The complexity increases exponentially when you try and combine two companies that both need to be restructured in their own right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-waitt/the-complexity-increases-exponentially-when-you-try-and-combine-two/) [Ted Waitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-waitt/) > [I kind of became apolitical.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-waitt/i-kind-of-became-apolitical/) [Ted Waitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-waitt/) > [PCs will go the cell-phone subsidy route.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-waitt/pcs-will-go-the-cell-phone-subsidy-route/) [Ted Waitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-waitt/) > [Intel's a great company, and Microsoft is a great company. Everybody seems to do a lot better when there is competition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-waitt/intel-s-a-great-company-and-microsoft-is-a-great-company-everybody/) [Ted Waitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-waitt/) > [We think the right categorization for digital devices is something you hold in your hand, a mobile-type product, and something you sit two feet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-waitt/we-think-the-right-categorization-for-digital-devices-is-something/) [Ted Waitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-waitt/) > [We have to have a successful box business if we are going to go beyond the box.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-waitt/we-have-to-have-a-successful-box-business-if-we-are-going-to-go/) [Ted Waitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-waitt/) > [Our biggest risk is ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-waitt/our-biggest-risk-is-ourselves/) [Ted Waitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-waitt/) > [If you buy a CD and want to put your favorite songs on one CD, you should be able to do that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-waitt/if-you-buy-a-cd-and-want-to-put-your-favorite-songs-on-one-cd-you/) [Ted Waitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-waitt/) > [Being a smaller, nimbler company is better for our customers, employees and shareholders.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-waitt/being-a-smaller-nimbler-company-is-better-for-our-customers-employees/) [Ted Waitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-waitt/) > [We hope to be a leader in the convergence of consumer electronics and communications.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-waitt/we-hope-to-be-a-leader-in-the-convergence-of-consumer-electronics-and/) [Ted Waitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-waitt/) > [We want a Gateway to be the last computer our clients will ever buy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-waitt/we-want-a-gateway-to-be-the-last-computer-our-clients-will-ever-buy/) [Ted Waitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-waitt/) > [You don't know the impact of Windows XP. You don't know what the economic impact is going to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-waitt/you-don-t-know-the-impact-of-windows-xp-you-don-t-know-what-the/) [Ted Waitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-waitt/) > [The entertainment industry always chooses to fight things out through the courts and legislation. Technology people always think there's a business solution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-waitt/the-entertainment-industry-always-chooses-to-fight-things-out-through/) [Ted Waitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-waitt/) > [I was fascinated to see that if you knew what you were doing, you could sell a $3,000 computer system over the phone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-waitt/i-was-fascinated-to-see-that-if-you-knew-what-you-were-doing-you/) [Ted Waitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-waitt/) > [I'd be lying to you if I said I had not done some soul searching.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-waitt/i-d-be-lying-to-you-if-i-said-i-had-not-done-some-soul-searching/) [Ted Waitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-waitt/) [Explore all 72 Ted Waitt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-waitt/) ## More 1980s quotes > [There was a time in the 1980s when I worked in 22 films a year.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/radha-ravi/there-was-a-time-in-the-1980s-when-i-worked-in-22-films-a-year/) [Radha Ravi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/radha-ravi/) > [“Everything worth knowing about the 1980s I learned from obsessively reading Bloom County collections when I was nine and Derek Jarman's diaries when I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruadh-n-j-mcelroy/everything-worth-knowing-about-the-1980s-i-learned-from-obsessively/) [Ruadhán J. McElroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruadh-n-j-mcelroy/) > [“Dilettantes,’ Art3mis said. ‘It’s their own fault for not knowing all the Schoolhouse Rock! lyrics by heart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-cline/dilettantes-art3mis-said-it-s-their-own-fault-for-not-knowing-all-the/) [Ernest Cline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-cline/) > [I was a safari guide in the 1980s in Kenya.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-winslow/i-was-a-safari-guide-in-the-1980s-in-kenya/) [Don Winslow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-winslow/) > [“As he defended the book one evening in the early 1980s at the Carnegie Endowment in New York, I knew that some of what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/as-he-defended-the-book-one-evening-in-the-early-1980s-at-the/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [Nuclear power will be the Vietnam issue of the 1980s.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-brown/nuclear-power-will-be-the-vietnam-issue-of-the-1980s/) [Jerry Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-brown/) > [The 1980s were all about synths for me, and it never went away after that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-grant/the-1980s-were-all-about-synths-for-me-and-it-never-went-away-after/) [John Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-grant/) > [The 1980s was the era of the blonde cheerleader.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winona-ryder/the-1980s-was-the-era-of-the-blonde-cheerleader/) [Winona Ryder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winona-ryder/) > [In the 1980s and the 1990s, when HIV hit its peak, the gay community was at the forefront of the fight against the silent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-flock/in-the-1980s-and-the-1990s-when-hiv-hit-its-peak-the-gay-community/) [Elizabeth Flock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-flock/) > [The 1980s really ended for me in 1992 with the film Kika.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pedro-almodovar/the-1980s-really-ended-for-me-in-1992-with-the-film-kika/) [Pedro Almodovar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pedro-almodovar/) > [Eventually, our kind of music, whether it's us or Motley or Poison of whoever, will define the 1980s. That's something to be proud of.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jani-lane/eventually-our-kind-of-music-whether-it-s-us-or-motley-or-poison-of/) [Jani Lane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jani-lane/) > [Back in the 1980s, state-of-the-nation fictions were all set in Manhattan. Now, they're all in Trump country. Early in 'S-Town,' we're introduced to an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hepworth/back-in-the-1980s-state-of-the-nation-fictions-were-all-set-in/) [David Hepworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hepworth/) > [“Reading about Bordertown was the first time I saw people like me in speculative fiction. Messed-up kids, making messsed-up choices. I couldn't be a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-black/reading-about-bordertown-was-the-first-time-i-saw-people-like-me-in/) [Holly Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-black/) > [I was kind of freaked out by the art world in the 1980s. Just the money thing. All the competition over artists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-gordon/i-was-kind-of-freaked-out-by-the-art-world-in-the-1980s-just-the/) [Kim Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-gordon/) > [I remain extraordinarily proud of the Vaughan Williams symphonies I recorded with the LSO, and in the 1980s and '90s, I made an almost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-previn/i-remain-extraordinarily-proud-of-the-vaughan-williams-symphonies-i/) [Andre Previn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-previn/) [Browse all 91 1980s quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/zz-1980s-459/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "To me, the consumer-electronics business feels a lot like the PC business in the late 1980s. 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