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Should Companies Delay Products for More Features?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the more-features-means-more-flavour dept.

conq writes "BusinessWeek has a piece looking at if it makes sense for companies such as Sony to delay the release of products to ensure that when they do come out they are absolutely top of the line. From the article: 'In the tech world, where consumer trends can rise and fall and product cycles are short, that's more often the exception than the rule. The penalty for a delay can be severe -- even catastrophic. One of the biggest risks in postponing a product launch is being out-hustled to market by rivals.'"

4 of 136 comments (clear)

  1. Is it soup yet? by BWJones · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Should Companies Delay Products for More Features?

    Companies should release products when they are *done*. This means that they define a set of parameters they want to meet and then complete them. Putting a product out in a date driven fashion is a sure fire way to release crap that you end up beta testing on your customers while trying to add in new features/technology results in version creep. Want to please your customers and get them to come back for your other products? Release a product when it is done and if you want to introduce new features, that is an incremental release.

    *Disclaimer: This only works if you do not have a monopoly... :-)

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    1. Re:Is it soup yet? by hotdiggitydawg · · Score: 5, Insightful

      ...and in the meantime your competitors have released slightly inferior products much earlier and captured your market share. Then they've used the funds from their initial sales to boost their resources, and started working on the next generation of your product before you've even finished the current one.

      From a customer's point of view, your comments hold water. From a shareholder's point of view they don't. Guess which group of people companies care more about?

  2. Who is kidding who? by WebHostingGuy · · Score: 5, Informative

    Read the article and the real reason is plain as day:

    "The main holdups were a copyright protection mechanism for the PS3's high-definition DVD player."
    Yeah, right, top of the line cool features are delaying shipment. By the way, I have a bridge I want to sell you; and Vista is shipping this month!!

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  3. Too late by Eric+Bishop · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If you're asking yourself at the end of the development cycle if you really need some features, why have they survived the design phase?