RE: Sean Adams' ethernet MP3 player

[Keith Doxey <ukha@xxxxxxx>]

Very Interesting.

As per my Project Financing post yesterday, Sean has hit the same problems.

Finished Cost -
very hard to keep it low enough to compete with similar Mass produced
product. Features then become a very important selling point.

Start Up -
requires a lot of investment when you are uncertain of the potenial return.
Buying 10,000 of ANY item is a serious step not to be undertaken lightly.

Buying bits -
as with KAT5, he has left purchasing the expensive bits until the last
minute.

I wish Sean every success with this because the more products that are
available, the greater the public acceptance will be of the "Wired
Home"
concept. People will realise that they need to install some infrastructure
to support these systems but that the returns will more than justify the
time, effort and money they put in.

Keith

-----Original Message-----
From: Ian Oliver [mailto:ioliver.lists@xxxxxxx]

Conversation regards Sean Adams' MP3 player.  I've edited some of the
Q&A so you can more easily follow what was asked and what was answered.

-----------------
$150 - wow. Last I heard they were planning to retail for $275 to $300,
so I wasn't expecting to have to come in much below that price. Keep in
mind that we're doing this on a shoestring , and building 100 units at
a time is not terribly cost-effective.

I can't commit to a price until we know for sure what the assembly work
is going to cost - I can tell you that our BOM alone is about $130 in
these small quantities, and will drop to about $80 to $90 for 10K
units. This is our status as of today:

1. We have purchased most of the parts for the first 100 units (no
displays and remotes, yet - we'll buy those right before we ship)
2. There is a little bit of firmware work left to do
3. We need to do one more revision of the PCB - just a feminor changes
4. Have not yet found a suitable shop to do the assembly work





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