Last visit was: 22 Jun 2025, 19:29 It is currently 22 Jun 2025, 19:29
Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel
User avatar
Bunuel
User avatar
Math Expert
Joined: 02 Sep 2009
Last visit: 22 Jun 2025
Posts: 102,229
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 93,970
Products:
Expert
Expert reply
Active GMAT Club Expert! Tag them with @ followed by their username for a faster response.
Posts: 102,229
Kudos: 734,624
 [31]
4
Kudos
Add Kudos
27
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Most Helpful Reply
User avatar
SonalSinha803
Joined: 14 Feb 2018
Last visit: 18 Feb 2019
Posts: 307
Own Kudos:
309
 [8]
Given Kudos: 29
Posts: 307
Kudos: 309
 [8]
7
Kudos
Add Kudos
1
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
avatar
Pavelxxx
Joined: 14 Aug 2018
Last visit: 13 Oct 2019
Posts: 1
Own Kudos:
5
 [5]
Given Kudos: 13
Posts: 1
Kudos: 5
 [5]
4
Kudos
Add Kudos
1
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
General Discussion
User avatar
ParthSanghavi
Joined: 02 Oct 2018
Last visit: 31 Oct 2019
Posts: 49
Own Kudos:
18
 [1]
Given Kudos: 28
Posts: 49
Kudos: 18
 [1]
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
daagh VeritasKarishma

Could you please explain why (B) is correct?
User avatar
AdityaHongunti
Joined: 20 Sep 2016
Last visit: 31 Mar 2021
Posts: 552
Own Kudos:
1,024
 [4]
Given Kudos: 632
Location: India
Concentration: Strategy, Operations
GPA: 3.6
WE:Operations (Consumer Packaged Goods)
3
Kudos
Add Kudos
1
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Quote:
Approximately two hundred brands of personal computers are being manufactured, but we currently limit our inventory to only the eight most popular brands. We plan to increase greatly the number of computers we sell by expanding our inventory to include the ten best-selling brands.
Understand :
- we limit our inventory ( available stock with the company at present) to 8 most popular brands
- We will expand our inventory to include "ten best selling brands"
- why?? INCREASE GREATLY the number of computers we sell
Quote:
Which of the following, if true, points out a major weakness of the plan above?
- Flaw

Think:
Typical GMAT pattern - OVERLAP of groups.... I want to increase the sale of computers from my store. I already have 8 most popular computers , and now i am going to expand my inventory to 10 best selling brands. why?? I want to increase my sale SUBSTANTIALLY. But what if i get to know that the most popular are themselves best selling?? that is most of my current most popular brands are actually the best selling then including the same brands once again MAY NOT increase my sale GREATLY
.Have I made sure that both are actually different?? that is there is a minimal overlap of both groups??
Quote:
(A) The capabilities of three most popular personal computers add to be approximately equivalent, with no brand having consistent superiority in all respects.
- In this answer choice we are only considering the most popular brands and comapring capabilities among them. HOW does this choice help us ecaluate the efficacy of my plan to increase sale by include BST selling brands??
Quote:
(B) The seven most popular brands of personal computers account for almost all computers sold
.
- If 7 of most popular brands are also the most selling (best selling) then including 2 top selling brands may not increase my sale GREATLY. Sure it may increase but not greatly
Quote:
(C) As the users of personal computers become more sophisticated, they are more willing to buy less well-known brands of computers.
-This does not talk about a weakness in my plan. also there is a reason why "best selling brands" is used. It means consumers actuallu but those specific brands in great numbers.
Quote:
(D) Less popular brands of computers often provide less profit to the retailer because prices must be discounted to attract customers.
- "profit" is not our concern. we are concerned with SALE
Quote:
(E) The leading brand of personal computer has been losing sales to less popular brands that offer similar capabilities for less money.
-"The " that means one particular brand is loosing its market to someone else. But are we including that brand in our inventory?? WE DONT KNOW
User avatar
pkshankar
Joined: 20 Jun 2017
Last visit: 25 Apr 2019
Posts: 64
Own Kudos:
50
 [1]
Given Kudos: 42
GMAT 1: 570 Q49 V19
GMAT 1: 570 Q49 V19
Posts: 64
Kudos: 50
 [1]
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
They are currently selling 8 most popular brands and expect that by selling 10 best selling brands their sales figures will shoot up.
We need a weakener.
Option B says that almost all the sales are accounted for by the 7 most popular brands hence inclusion of 2 more brands may not really have a big impact.
Hence B is the answer

Sent from my SM-N960F using GMAT Club Forum mobile app
avatar
Rohit23
Joined: 13 Dec 2018
Last visit: 12 Apr 2019
Posts: 37
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 1
Location: India
GPA: 3.94
Posts: 37
Kudos: 27
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
The plan here is to increase the number of computers in the inventory greatly by including 2 more brands. Choice B would be the most weakening sentence because if top 7 brands account for almost all the computers sold then it would make minimal change in the number of computers in the inventory if he includes two more brands. Hence, B is the answer.
User avatar
Muskaan1237
Joined: 03 May 2023
Last visit: 30 Jan 2024
Posts: 1
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 7
Location: India
Posts: 1
Kudos: 7
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
I think here one of the major factor is that the question talks about best selling brands and not cheap/popular brand. A cheap brand can be best-selling. For example Oppo is a cheap brand in India but it is highly possible that it is one of the best selling brand
User avatar
Azakura16
Joined: 17 May 2024
Last visit: 12 Mar 2025
Posts: 59
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 5
Location: United States (AR)
GMAT Focus 1: 805 Q90 V90 DI90
GPA: 3.5
Products:
GMAT Focus 1: 805 Q90 V90 DI90
Posts: 59
Kudos: 58
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Quote:
Approximately two hundred brands of personal computers are being manufactured, but we currently limit our inventory to only the eight most popular brands. We plan to increase greatly the number of computers we sell by expanding our inventory to include the ten best-selling brands.

Which of the following, if true, points out a major weakness of the plan above?


(A) The capabilities of three most popular personal computers add to be approximately equivalent, with no brand having consistent superiority in all respects.

(B) The seven most popular brands of personal computers account for almost all computers sold.

(C) As the users of personal computers become more sophisticated, they are more willing to buy less well-known brands of computers.

(D) Less popular brands of computers often provide less profit to the retailer because prices must be discounted to attract customers.

(E) The leading brand of personal computer has been losing sales to less popular brands that offer similar capabilities for less money.

Premise: Approx 200 brands of PCs are being manufactured.
Premise: We currently limit our inventory to the eight most popular brands.
Conclusion: We plan to greatly increase the number of computers we sell by expanding our inventory to include the ten best-selling brands.

We’re looking to weaken the argument.

A. Irrelevant. These brands are included in either inventory offering.
B. This weakens the argument. If the seven most popular brands account for a majority of sales, then it seems unlikely that adding the ninth and tenth most popular brands would greatly increase the number of computers sold.
C. This potentially strengthens our argument, if by less well-known they mean a preference for the ninth and tenth best-selling brands. It’s not the answer to our question though.
D. Irrelevant. We’re talking about numbers of computers sold, not profit.
E. The leading brand could be losing sales to the second or third leading brand, or it could be losing sales to the ninth or tenth leading brand. Without that being clarified, this choice has an ambiguous effect on the conclusion.
Best choice is B.
User avatar
SafSin28
Joined: 16 Aug 2022
Last visit: 22 Jun 2025
Posts: 79
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 49
Products:
Posts: 79
Kudos: 53
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
QS: Weakness of the plan
Argument:
Bgrnd info: 200 brands but we have the 8 most popular ones!
Plan: if the 10 most popular, then we sell more comp.s.
The added 2 increases sales?!
(A) The capabilities of three most popular personal computers add to be approximately equivalent, with no brand having consistent superiority in all respects.--- OUT. It just describes the top 3.

(B) The seven most popular brands of personal computers account for almost all computers sold.-- Ok. a weakener for the plan

(C) As the users of personal computers become more sophisticated, they are more willing to buy less well-known brands of computers.- hurts the argument

(D) Less popular brands of computers often provide less profit to the retailer because prices must be discounted to attract customers.-- additional info. OUT

(E) The leading brand of personal computer has been losing sales to less popular brands that offer similar capabilities for less money.--hurts the argument
User avatar
shivansh2501
Joined: 13 Dec 2024
Last visit: 13 May 2025
Posts: 7
Given Kudos: 24
Posts: 7
Kudos: 0
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Author's Conclusion- Increase the number of computers we sell by expanding our inventory to include the ten best-selling brands

A. Out of scope- The capabilities of the top three most popular computers are not of our concern, we just need to find an option which will weaken our plan leading to less sales of computers

B. Correct Answer (Weakener)- If the seven most popular brands account for the most number of computers sold, then it doesn't make sense to add the best-selling brands, on adding the best-selling brands, it will only lead to a decrease in the overall number of computers that we sell. Suppose earlier we had 80 computers to sell from the most popular brands and we sold 79 of them, if we add 100 from the best-selling brands, we will sell only 79 computers of the total 180 as compared to 79/180 previously.

C. Neutral - If people are willing to buy less known brands, some of these brands might be a part of the ten best-selling brands right? So this might or might not lead to an increase in the number of computers that we sell.

D. Out of scope- We are not concerned with whether the profit of the retailer will increase or decrease or how his revenue will be affected!

E. Neutral- If the leading (most popular) brand of computers has been losing sales to less popular brands, again some of these brands might be a part of the best-selling brands that we plan to include, uncertain whether it will increase or decrease our sales.
Bunuel
Approximately two hundred brands of personal computers are being manufactured, but we currently limit our inventory to only the eight most popular brands. We plan to increase greatly the number of computers we sell by expanding our inventory to include the ten best-selling brands.

Which of the following, if true, points out a major weakness of the plan above?


(A) The capabilities of three most popular personal computers add to be approximately equivalent, with no brand having consistent superiority in all respects.

(B) The seven most popular brands of personal computers account for almost all computers sold.

(C) As the users of personal computers become more sophisticated, they are more willing to buy less well-known brands of computers.

(D) Less popular brands of computers often provide less profit to the retailer because prices must be discounted to attract customers.

(E) The leading brand of personal computer has been losing sales to less popular brands that offer similar capabilities for less money.
Moderators:
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
7332 posts
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
235 posts