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I don't think VC has too much to worry about. $99 for an Ouya is definitely selling at a loss; they're going to need VC to actually manufacture and sell the thi

I don't think VC has too much to worry about. $99 for an Ouya is definitely selling at a loss; they're going to need VC to actually manufacture and sell the thing. Kickstarter is an excellent way to demonstrate people are interested in an idea though (just potentially not the actual product).

mbell 14y ago
> $99 for an Ouya is definitely selling at a loss; I doubt that. $99 is probably just above cost with 1 controller, depending on production volume and how you factor in NRE. Generally speaking the big price break on electronics comes at 10,000 units which I imagine would be on the low end of their intended order given the number of backers already. Most of the cost in mobile devices lies in the screen, battery, touch panel and associated circuitry. This device doesn't have any of those. A Tegra 3 SoC only runs about $15 in volume. For comparison, Apple sells the ATV for ~$100 and the original was reported to cost ~$64 to build, I don't have any data on the newer models but I doubt the cost has changed much, if anything its lower.
- waterlesscloud 14y ago
  They've had a number of opportunities to raise the price. They did an initial batch at $95, and then they've raised the cap on the $99 batch over and over. At any time they could have not raised the cap on the $99 batch and opened a new one at $125 (for example), and they haven't done so. So either they know $99 is a good price for their product or they're complete fools...
- ReadEvalPost 14y ago
  > This device doesn't have any of those The controller has a touch panel and battery (pretty sure they're wireless). > reported to cost ~$64 to build Is that just the BoM or does that factor in manufacturing, QA, having to hold inventory, etc.?
  - mbell 14y ago
    > The controller has a touch panel and battery (pretty sure they're wireless). True, however the issue is different from mobile devices. The battery in a controller is likely a standard off the shelf package, e.g. a pair of AA sized rechargeable cells. Mobile devices generally have a battery custom designed for the needed form factor. That custom design and production is very costly. > Is that just the BoM or does that factor in manufacturing, QA, having to hold inventory, etc.? It was a teardown by iSuppli, I can't find the original report now and I believe it was actually the Apple TV 2 not the Apple TV 1 as I originally stated, I forgot there was a huge Apple TV way back and was thinking of the ATV 2 as the original. The price from iSuppli would be BoM + manufacturing. Manufacturing for a device like this is minimal per unit, just a few dollars and generally includes the factory level QA. For any run of decent size the electronics QA is done by a machine via flying probe or bed of nails setup, its very cheap on a per unit basis. The only manual QA needed would be checking out the packing for defects.
  - mbell 14y ago
    > Is that just the BoM or does that factor in manufacturing, QA, having to hold inventory, etc.? Found the teardown: http://www.isuppli.com/Teardowns/News/Pages/iSuppli-Teardown-Reveals-Apple-TV-Inner-iPad.aspx http://www.isuppli.com/Teardowns/News/Pages/iSuppli-Teardown...
KVFinn 14y ago
>I don't think VC has too much to worry about. $99 for an Ouya is definitely selling at a loss; You can buy Chinese TV sticks with Android 4.0 and better GPUs (Mali 400) right now for 50 dollars. http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/581994032/hot_sale_mini_HD_1080P_android.html http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/581994032/hot_sale_mini_HD... These will be a lot more powerful by March 2013.

mbell 14y ago

> $99 for an Ouya is definitely selling at a loss; I doubt that. $99 is probably just above cost with 1 controller, depending on production volume and how you factor in NRE. Generally speaking the big price break on electronics comes at 10,000 units which I imagine would be on the low end of their intended order given the number of backers already. Most of the cost in mobile devices lies in the screen, battery, touch panel and associated circuitry. This device doesn't have any of those. A Tegra 3 SoC only runs about $15 in volume. For comparison, Apple sells the ATV for ~$100 and the original was reported to cost ~$64 to build, I don't have any data on the newer models but I doubt the cost has changed much, if anything its lower.

waterlesscloud 14y ago
They've had a number of opportunities to raise the price. They did an initial batch at $95, and then they've raised the cap on the $99 batch over and over. At any time they could have not raised the cap on the $99 batch and opened a new one at $125 (for example), and they haven't done so. So either they know $99 is a good price for their product or they're complete fools...
ReadEvalPost 14y ago
> This device doesn't have any of those The controller has a touch panel and battery (pretty sure they're wireless). > reported to cost ~$64 to build Is that just the BoM or does that factor in manufacturing, QA, having to hold inventory, etc.?
- mbell 14y ago
  > The controller has a touch panel and battery (pretty sure they're wireless). True, however the issue is different from mobile devices. The battery in a controller is likely a standard off the shelf package, e.g. a pair of AA sized rechargeable cells. Mobile devices generally have a battery custom designed for the needed form factor. That custom design and production is very costly. > Is that just the BoM or does that factor in manufacturing, QA, having to hold inventory, etc.? It was a teardown by iSuppli, I can't find the original report now and I believe it was actually the Apple TV 2 not the Apple TV 1 as I originally stated, I forgot there was a huge Apple TV way back and was thinking of the ATV 2 as the original. The price from iSuppli would be BoM + manufacturing. Manufacturing for a device like this is minimal per unit, just a few dollars and generally includes the factory level QA. For any run of decent size the electronics QA is done by a machine via flying probe or bed of nails setup, its very cheap on a per unit basis. The only manual QA needed would be checking out the packing for defects.
- mbell 14y ago
  > Is that just the BoM or does that factor in manufacturing, QA, having to hold inventory, etc.? Found the teardown: http://www.isuppli.com/Teardowns/News/Pages/iSuppli-Teardown-Reveals-Apple-TV-Inner-iPad.aspx http://www.isuppli.com/Teardowns/News/Pages/iSuppli-Teardown...

KVFinn 14y ago

>I don't think VC has too much to worry about. $99 for an Ouya is definitely selling at a loss; You can buy Chinese TV sticks with Android 4.0 and better GPUs (Mali 400) right now for 50 dollars. http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/581994032/hot_sale_mini_HD_1080P_android.html http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/581994032/hot_sale_mini_HD... These will be a lot more powerful by March 2013.