Even for price taking firms, a number of factors other than market price, can affect the desired quantity supplied. It is for this reason that we need the "if nothing else changes..." or the "all else being equal" clause in the law of supply.

In addition to the market price, the desired quantity supplied for a single firm will be affected by changes in production costs, production technology, the market price of other goods manufactured by the firm, and expectations, to name a few. When we look at an industry as a whole, supply is also affected by the number of firms in the industry.

As long as these factors aren't changing, we expect the desired quantity supplied to increase with the market price and vice versa, as predicted by the law of supply.

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