The cheap ARM boards you see typically have some economic reason that involve a deal for millions of SoCs falling through at the last minute and the SoC manufac

The cheap ARM boards you see typically have some economic reason that involve a deal for millions of SoCs falling through at the last minute and the SoC manufacturer selling them off at below cost just to get anything back from the run. The BCM2835 was destined for a cheap set top box but for reasons not known publicly the manufacturer of that box didn't take those chips.