Not the colour you expect

Texas Instruments TI-30X IIS Calculator

Last week at school I saw a student with this calculator. I've never seen this particular model in any colour other than black.

I asked the student where they bought it. They didn't buy it, they found it in a hotel room. They said they have never seen another one since.

Is this a good line extension for Texas Instruments? Well, it adds both SKUs and therefore inventory carrying costs. In the past Texas Instruments seems to have been abiding by Henry Ford's maxim, "Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black."

Manufacturers walk a delicate line. More colours can increase sales, but they also push up costs. And if you start selling your products in colours that people don't expect, they may not see it on the shelf. (I was looking for the black calculator.)

Of course, looking at that orange colour, I thought that it might have been a special edition for Home Depot.