With Interchangeable Parts, Notebooks Will commodities

The do-it-yourself (DIY) market of hobbyists fiddling their own desktops has gained considerable momentum in the past couple of years. Enough so that I call it a market segment.

But DIY notebook enthusiasts are presently plain out of luck: I know of know standard "kits" that would allow a consumer to build -- let alone customize -- a notebook.

Mobileformfactors.org may create the catalyst which enables a DIY notebook market. By focusing on standards which will allow for interchangeable parts, the organization will accomplish five things, wittingly or not:

1. With standards for, say, heat exchanger dimensions and dissipation characteristics, OEMs will be able to build fewer models in more volume -- driving down prices. [Heat exchangers are typically custom parts for each OEM notebook today]
2. As Colt and Ford proved with rifles and cars, respectively, interchangeable parts will allow Original Design Manufacturers (ODMs) in Taiwan and China to offer generic "white box" notebooks, without OEM orders and at lower costs -- the design and test costs will be much lower with interchangeable parts.
3. To supply second- and third-tier OEMs, the ODMs can offer off-the-shelf designs. Parts can be sourced locally, spurring geographic innovation.
4. Once an ODM-OEM business gets started, parts manufacturers in Asia will gear up to crank out now-standard notebook parts, which will be stocked and sold online.
5. Consumers will then be able to buy notebook parts just like they buy desktop cases, motherboards, optical, processors and OEM software to build a custom desktop.

I see nothing to stop this trend from happening. The notebook OEMs lack the clout. The parts manufacturers will have to do standardized parts to keep up with the competition. And the big component makers such as Intel and Microsoft will consider a sale a sale as nothing is lost to them -- low-volume prices may be higher than the big OEMs like Dell and HP pay. Moreover, some consumer hobbyists will want to do this.

But be warned that there is a lot less room to maneuver inside a notebook shell than there is in a gamer case. And you will have to clean up your cables in order to screw the case shut.