Saturday, January 7th 2023
In Win Envisions an Ikea-like Future for PC Cases for Sustainable Shipping with POC and Dubili
In Win is always a stand-out attraction at PC trade-shows, and at the 2023 International CES, they presented a vision for what PC cases could ship like in the near-future. PC cases, particularly $20-50 ones, are incredibly uneconomical to ship, as they take up vast amount of spatial volume for the market-price. The new In Win POC isn't exactly an entry-level case, but adds a heavy DIY element to it, similar to what you'd find with Ikea furniture.
The In Win POC case comes in completely knocked down kits, with nealy all its metal panels flattened. There are cutouts on the panel, along which you manually bend and fold the sheet-metal to construct 3D shapes, as shown in online instructional videos made by In Win. A few bends and tightening of joints later, your case is ready for the hardware to be installed. The knocked-down case comes in an incredibly compact box that's a fraction of the volume of what would've been for a factory-assembled case, and needs much less protective Styrofoam. The concept carries on to the Dubili, a rather upmarket-looking ATX mid-tower which, although doesn't come with "fold here" sheet-metal, remains in a completely knocked-down state out of the box, with mostly flat bits that you join using a series of thumb-screw joints to give the case its 3-dimensional form.
A video presentation by In Win follows.
The In Win POC case comes in completely knocked down kits, with nealy all its metal panels flattened. There are cutouts on the panel, along which you manually bend and fold the sheet-metal to construct 3D shapes, as shown in online instructional videos made by In Win. A few bends and tightening of joints later, your case is ready for the hardware to be installed. The knocked-down case comes in an incredibly compact box that's a fraction of the volume of what would've been for a factory-assembled case, and needs much less protective Styrofoam. The concept carries on to the Dubili, a rather upmarket-looking ATX mid-tower which, although doesn't come with "fold here" sheet-metal, remains in a completely knocked-down state out of the box, with mostly flat bits that you join using a series of thumb-screw joints to give the case its 3-dimensional form.
12 Comments on In Win Envisions an Ikea-like Future for PC Cases for Sustainable Shipping with POC and Dubili
So in the US at least, you'd expect the price of PC cases go back down, but it's not really happening. Some case manufacturers took a big hit to their margin and maybe they're now seeing this as the time to profit. And now In Win is here to tell us that the future of cases is this flat-packed ikea garbage? Unless they actually manage to hit $20 - $50 price tags with these, I'd like to kindly ask them to screw off.
Hope those orange accents will have multiple different color options too at some point.
Almost a shame I just settled in my modded In Win Explorer on the other end of the design spectrum... :D
That was the only time I saw a case packed like that and always wondered why it wasn't a thing anymore. It even came with a tiny phillips screwdriver I still have and use all the time, that was the only tool required to put it together.
Caselabs were shipped flat packed too.
These look like the side panels are made to be folded into a case. Like a metal model kit.