Part of the problem with OEMs, especially when you look at the Windows ecosystem is that they are cutting costs by using the same design with swappable part (different memory, different HDs, etc.). Reaching the $400-500 price range requires low end specs, but also requires a single SKU that can be mass produced cheaply.<p>Since alot of the major OEMs (Dell, HP, Lenovo, etc.) have already made major investments in products (Thinkpad, Inspiron, etc.) for design that is focused on the head end and highly configurable, they don't spend resources producing the low end. Instead they all of the R&D cost have been spent creating one design that is very configurable, which results in design tradeoffs (swapable parts causes laptop to be bigger, etc.) in order for them.<p>Apple is successful partially because they have VERY few SKUs, a small number of models, which enables to them to easily reach scale and spend all their money on design. There is no equivalent because the margins at the $400-500 are very low and if OEMs have to spend large amount on design for something with low margin that can't be scaled up to high end, the ROI is not there.