Your customer is having an entrepreneurial fantasy, be careful.  I drop=20
projects like this, or, require a per-hour for doing the research for=20
showing that this is not possible.

I would point him to alibaba and have him do the legwork to find (if=20
possible) the factory that produces the BTLE controlled (whatever) that=20
is similar to what he wants, and have them quote a custom build.

You'll never reach even close to china volume prices based on anything=20
non china sourced.

Good luck, and don't spend too much unpaid time on this.  Your role will=20
be a EE consultant on a china manufacturing QA adventure.

J

(Designed qty 1000 BTLE non-module, FCC approved, body-worn motion=20
tracker for a startup in san francisco 2 years ago)


Neil wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I've been asked to create a small piece of electronics and associated
> mobile app with which he can turn on/off other devices using bluetooth
> low-energy.  The switch can be a simple transistor switch for relatively
> low current (less than 1A), and it's one way only.  For now he wants a
> low quantity (up to a few thousand), but is expecting to go big with
> this (hundreds of thousands or more).
>
> Designing/developing this is relatively simple, but his target price of
> $1 in the larger quantities seems very unrealistic.  I've not done
> anything in such high volumes, so not sure what pricing trend to expect
> when it gets that high.  So far all I have is this high-level info on
> the project, and before I get into a detailed conversation with him I'm
> wondering what a realistic target price should be.  The BLE chips alone
> are in the $2+ range from Mouser/Digikey, and I can probably get that
> down a bit in large quantities by going straight to the manufacturer,
> but I still can't see the chips alone going below $1.  I've also checked
> Ali* etc to see if I can BLE modules lower cost, but so far nothing.
> Then I have to add a PCB, switching components, battery (which he
> expects to be in the budget), and possibly even a small processor if the
> BLE chip has not direct I/O pins.  FWIW, I'm only aware of TI's CC and
> Nordic's nrf8001 type chips for this.
>
> Anyone who has done high-volume manufacturing care to share some
> experiences on high-volume pricing.
>
> Thanks.
>
--=20
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