This is their first batch, so give them a break. No-one is forcing you to buy these.
They have a great product, so I am hopeful that future batches will be more competitive from a price standpoint.
They have a great product, so I am hopeful that future batches will be more competitive from a price standpoint.
Always a silver lining.
This "backlash" is clearly being managed from some sort of SHADY HQ... in the middle of some flat part of the planet.
This isn't about a great product. This is about money. If Big Picture Mining is telling the truth -- that they paid $130 per chip, it means that after manufacturing costs they are probably at $150. (If you look at the average bitcoin exchange rate over the last little while, we can ballpark that these cost around 1.0-1.5 BTC to make... Lets say 1.0 on the low side to be very conservative.)
From a business standpoint things aren't looking good -- The manufacturer paid more to make these then they will ever get back mining from them. They will likely return 0.85BTC or less in their lifetime.
The only chance the manufacturer has to make money, is to start selling inventory very quickly and get rid of hardware that is quickly depreciating with each difficulty jump. If they price at 2.5 BTC, they will get hundreds of people posting "LOL, overpriced." and they will sell 0 units.
If they price appropriately, then they might have a chance to get rid of inventory that has already taken at a loss and has to be written down.
I urge the manufacturer to consider dropping the price to prevent a loss. Shipping a bunch of product at the right price will also be good PR for them, if they deliver on time they will get a large support base of customers.
P.S. My consulting services are available to all other manufacturers who are thinking about selling hardware.
