Trump tariffs have forced us into bankruptcy and liquidation, says PC case maker CaseLabs

[John Gruff]

Source: Independent UK

A high-end PC case maker says it has been “forced into bankruptcy and liquidation” by tariffs introduced by Donald Trump.

CaseLabs, which makes custom towers for computers and has a high-profile following, including prominent YouTubers such as LinusTechTips, announced it would be permanently closing on Saturday.

The company, based in California, said tariffs had raised costs by almost 80 per cent and that “the default of a large account” had added to the issue.



Read more: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/pc-case-maker-caselabs-latest-news-bankrupt-liquidated-us-tariffs-a8487416.html

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Don't worry, Trump will bail them out as he did the farmers. Right?
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/pc-case-maker-caselabs-latest-news-bankrupt-liquidated-us-tariffs-a8487416.html

[LuckyLib]

1. To that company and each and every farmer: and who did you vote for?

[MicaelS]

14. Lots of hardcore computer geeks...

Are very RW, and love Trump. I left the forum of one site because the members are so RW.

[Beartracks]

2. The farmers would still vote for the sonofabitch. n/t

[LiberalArkie]

13. So would all the union members I know.

[samnsara]

3. he wont help them cuz they are based in California..

[Doodley]

4. We must all do our "patriotic duty" and thank Trump when our businesses collapse.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

5. #Winning!!!

[Xipe Totec]

10. #Winging!!!

[cstanleytech]

6. Or could it be that they just were overpriced?

I say this after checking their site out and the prices for their cases are pretty high in my opinion especially considering you can get some pretty nice computer cases for far cheaper than they were charging for theirs.

[Bengus81]

7. Pfffttt....$750.00 for a computer case?

I build several computers per year for customers and have bought cases since 2002--those guys are NUTS with those prices. Compare to a Phanteks case for $100.00 with a tempered glass side panel that I've used several times on more high end rigs. That case will do about anything except make ice.


https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811854042&ignorebbr=1&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-PCPartPicker,%20LLC-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

[Mad_Mongol]

8. Custom ductwork for liquid cooling of CPUs & GPUs don't come cheap

Cases designed for multiple U motherboards and extreme overclocking are specialized beasts.

[colorado_ufo]

11. You are correct.

[Bengus81]

12. LOL...that Magnum case doesn't accept multiple mobos........

There are holes for just one set of standoffs. And duct work for liquid cooling?? LOL...you need the top to be vented for the LC radiator to mount to and it doesn't take a $700-800 buck case to get that option. Hell...most any case Corsair sells will have top ventilation,most with mounting capability and many with a removable filter. It's huge,it would be easy to work in...I'll give them that much.


?c=2

[Mad_Mongol]

18. You seems not to understand what a multiple U motherboard, is.

Here's a low end example:



http://www.esaitech.com/supermicro-h8qme-2-nvidia-mcp55-pro-quad-socket-1207-f-sata-raid-video-lan-proprietary-motherboard.html?pk_campaign=ga-pla&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIsLDOxrzm3AIVhbxkCh3IDQKCEAQYAyABEgISWvD_BwE]


]

[Bengus81]

22. I see,server stuff...yeah never build any.

[Mad_Mongol]

31. Server/workstation/competitive gaming platform

IF you had scrolled further down on the link from which you clipped the photo, you would have seen the water reservoirs and heat exchanger system mounted in place. With the right motherboard, you can stock 4 Knights-Landing, Gen-2 MICs (72 cores per chip package/ 4 threads per core/ 512 GB RAM per MIC). Gen-3, when it arrives (Q3 2019) is unadvertised to be able to feed 1024 GB of RAM.

Fully loaded it's currently a ~ 36 TFLOP machine (expect ~ 50 TFLOP/s when Gen-3 arrives) about 45K in components

Compare to a base model, Cray X1 from 2005; which maxed out at ~ 20 TFLOPS/s and retailed for ~ $5M.

Excellent for doing CFD or Monte-Carlo simulations and over kill for most Map-Reduce problems.

Imagine gaming on one of these monsters

[cstanleytech]

15. Except the prices listed for their cases was before any customization so I personally

find it difficult to understand exactly why they were charging hundreds more before any customization.

[joshcryer]

20. $750 for a rig with $5-10k in parts is nothing.

Much of the price comes from it being a niche product, they could probably lower it a quarter of that, just going by raw metals and labor. But the product is specifically for high end systems so they know that the buyers are going to shell out more money.

It's a branding thing more than anything.

It is more a testament to the effect of the tariffs than it is to anything else. I actually wonder now if they get a lot of the parts pre-stamped in China which is why they're being screwed here. If they don't actually take in raw metal and produce their product but rather buy mostly pre-made product from a factory in China and add their finishing touches I can see it easily destroying their model.

[cstanleytech]

21. Personally if I was building such a system (and yes I do build my own these days) I would

probably buy something like https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133328&ignorebbr=1
Its far cheaper plus it looks fairly nice.

[joshcryer]

29. Oh absolutely.

I've never gone water cooled before but my next computer (Threadripper) is going to be a relatively cheap $100 (maybe $200) case. Everything else will be custom by me. Will be an interesting task since I've never done it before.

Was just trying to justify why some people chose a case like this. My computer will be maybe $4k, but I can easily see someone spending $10k buying a case like this and not even thinking twice about it.

[Bengus81]

23. The owner/CEO is nuts. He could offer that very high priced line......

For the few that would want them and then make a line of affordable cases for everyone else. As much as Trump WILL cause most case prices to rise since most all come from China he's not at fault for this dipshit going BK.

Looks to me like this case comes in a flat box and you have to assemble it from the ground up. Total BS.........

[joshcryer]

28. That would tarnish his brand, though.

But I do agree with you that he's probably getting the stuff sourced from China, pre-stamped. Now that I think of it, because of his high pricing, he probably gets low volume orders, so they are much more expensive to begin with from China. He makes his money from the brand being considered high quality (I have no doubt that they are higher quality than some Newegg case, but that's only if you're picky about very small details like edges, screws, whatever). But the raw stamped metal probably comes from similar or even the same factories.

It's like in my opinion buying named brand cereal and the store brand cereal. They're both made in the same exact production line but you are paying more for the name brand stuff because of the label, quite literally you pay more because it has the name brand label. They often will do the same run of the same type of cereal and maybe with one ingredient change. Source: worked at a packing plant, Planter's nuts and Great Value nuts are packed in the same factory, with the same jars even. We just changed out the label. Or they were a few years ago when I worked at one.

[Bengus81]

32. Sounds like he isn't going to have a brand pretty soon........

Some real cheap cases can have lot's of sharp edges--but that fact will always show up in reviews first so peeps can steer clear. I've built several rigs (one for myself) in the Corsair 450D case which sells for about $120-130.00. Not a sharp edge anywhere,plenty of room (go with the 750 if you need more) and every thing fits the way it should. I've built dozens of non-gamer rigs based on their 88R (small but no sharp edges) and sells for $55 bucks WITH a window. Very light weight and small footprint.

I'd love for that guy to explain why his case demands another $600-$700 bucks and you have to assemble the thing like an erector set when you get it. When it's all assembled a $750.00 case isn't going to give a gamer any more fps than one that sells for $120-150.00.

[MicaelS]

17. If you build systems..

Then you should know a maxed out system could easily run $10K+ just for hardware, and that if it is air-cooled.

Add a custom liquid cooling system with multiple loops would add another $2K.

So someone willing to spend that is not going to stick that in a $100 stock case. They are going to order a custom case, powder coated or multiple layers of paint.

I have built systems for over 16 years and I know what I am talking about.

[Bengus81]

24. True but I've seen $200.00 Phanteks cases that look better.......

It's about looks first and then function for most building crazy gaming systems that cost a fortune. I've been on PC part picker for years and watched Tech Source on You Tube and I've never seen anyone have one of these cases listed.

Hell most of those building very high end systems are still griping about ridiculous memory prices (still about double from two years ago) and video cards from that crapto mining BS to pay that guy $750 bucks for just a regular looking black case. THEN he want's another $50 for a hunk of tempered glass for the side.

[carlvsam]

26. There are possible reasons for this...

"It's about looks first and then function for most building crazy gaming systems that cost a fortune. I've been on PC part picker for years and watched Tech Source on You Tube and I've never seen anyone have one of these cases listed."

Maybe because the people who decide to use one of these custom PC cases have enough knowledge to design their systems without having to refer to PC Part Picker.

As for You Tube - one can find plenty of videos on CaseLabs cases just by performing a simple search...

[gopiscrap]

27. welcome to DU

[joshcryer]

30. True to an extent.

People often use PC part picker to find the best deals at a given time and a guy who is going to build a $10k rig is going to just buy the highest performing stuff, money as no object.

But CaseLabs built a brand and they had backorders for years, though, which I think ultimately is why they are going under. Robbing Peter to pay Paul. Taking orders, making orders for the parts, shipping them out, etc.

[Bengus81]

33. LOL....PC part picker is more about finding DEALS using bots than hand holding....

But if you like paying as much as possible then yeah,don't check it out. Caselabs is a joke,no wonder he's going BK,can't find enough idiots who think that fps is based on paying $750 for a case.

But...by all means he can keep blaming Trump for going broke. ROFLOL!!

[joshcryer]

19. That case is made in China.

[roamer65]

9. CA should nullify the tariffs.

Put state officials at the ports and jail any federal officials who don’t comply.

[marybourg]

16. Great idea!

Hint: the Supremacy Clause of the US Constitution

[dembotoz]

25. The default of a large account... perhaps too many eggs in a basket

Seen too many times, a big company gets flushed down a toilet and other companies get dragged down too