> The eval board price is intentionally high to filter out non-serious users who're not engineering with a plan for eventual high volume production. +1. Also,

> The eval board price is intentionally high to filter out non-serious users who're not engineering with a plan for eventual high volume production. +1. Also, they know you cannot do your job without them, and anyone who's buying one is a company with a budget, thus, it allows them to set the price to the maximum that is still accepted by companies. It's not unusual to sell a $200 eval board for a $2 commodity chip. Fortunately, at least for cheap commodity chips, the reference schematics and layout is often available for free.