‘Butterfly was great technology, but very expensive to implement,' according to a Dell spokesman. IBM's extensively praised Butterfly expandable notebook keyboard design seems ready to die shortly after emerging from its chrysalis and IBM have no plans to replace it. The product was considered an important advance in portable PC design when it appeared in IBM's Think Pad 701C in March 1995 since it offered a reasonable sized keyboard in a sub-A4 system.
However, its high price is thought to have reduced anticipated sales and the appearance of larger screens than the 701C's 10.4″ display have allowed notebook manufacturers to produce very slim A4 or slightly larger designs which allow more room for keyboard space.
Question
1. Is marketing research really of any value to a firm such as IBM when it comes to designing new PCs?