deniah

yes. almost everyone else makes derivative pick-a-part products.

making a functional laptop is very easy. its just a matter of putting together parts from a bin. thats why there are countless generic chinese 'manufacturers' such as deeq, zeuslap, gmolo, amoudo, etc.
making a laptop that functions well is another. it requires thoughtful consideration in design, engineering, manufacturing.

the results shows up in:
-sturdiness of chassis and perceived quality
-tactility and satisfaction of keystroke and track pad
-balance in stiffness of hinge - soft enough to open the laptop without lifting the base, but heavy enough to not have the screen flop under its own weight
-body and corners and edges and how it interacts with the user -- does it "cut" into ones arm? does the corner poke? is the body grippy? does it smudge and smear?
-display - its not just speccing the highest resolution, or brightest, or highest contrast screen, or most saturated - but is the color gamut wide? is the screen glossy or matte and how is that fit for purpose?
-cooling and ventilation - any high spec machine can run fast in burst, but if it doesnt cool well, it will slow down under sustained load
-etc etc etc

so there are all these qualitative things that are not immediate obvious. and its something that the other company has done extremely well despite a crowd or industry that measures purely on Specs vs Price.

ive had toshibas, asus, hp, and countless dells, and theres no indication that most companies have the ethos to want to do the things above well.
that most of them offer 30 40 50 identical looking laptops without any obvious distinction. one surmises something about their product planning philosophy.

many people hold a similar view towards car manufacturers, or airline carriers. is that such a controversial opinion?