Hi guys,
I'm a sucker for this stuff. I bought an Arduino a while ago and also the first batch of RasPi when they announced it.
So I went on Kickstarter and expected to buy a CHIP for $9. But then shipping to Canada is $20! So minimum would be $29. Then I noticed you only have a crappy low-res composite video output. So I looked at getting the package with a VGA or HDMI adapter board which adds another $10 and $15 respectively.
So to get a CHIP to plug into an HDMI monitor or TV, like RaspBerry Pi, costs a minimum of $9+15+20 shipping = $44.
Then I saw the Pocket CHIP and was liking the fact that I could take it with me. But that was $49 and did not include any battery or VGA/HDMI adapter so if I wanted to use it on a TV I would still need that, and I would have to get a battery still. Add shipping and that option would have been I think about $74 because shipping goes up.
Finally I settled on "All The Things" which includes 2 CHIP boards, a VGA and HDMI adapters and a battery and a Pocket CHIP for $93, and shipping goes up to $30 so in the end I pay $123 US which in Canadian is $150-something! And with the VISA exchange and other ripoff practices they will likely overcharge on conversion fees too and foreign currency. I originally was planning to use my PayPal US account.
So at the end of a day, a $9 computer ended up costing me $150+ dollars. Go figure! And I won't get anything for 1 year! Geez!
So did I get suckered or what?
Ok so apparently the BOM for the $9 CHIP is supposed to be more than $9 according to many who have analyzed this. Many speculate that the shipping fee ($20 to Canada) is "padded" so they can make up some of the money in shipping. But also, the $9 CHIP is bare-bones and most anticipate that the accessories (like the VGA and HDMI adapter boards) actually are over-priced based on their BOM so it evens out. Most people will have to buy one of those boards or else they will be stuck on a low-resolution composite video out. Plus the "PocketCHIP" is also a popular addition and there is more room to pad the cost on that item as well.
So all-in-all I believe the "$9" was a marketing tactic in order to generate as much hype as possible. And yes, while you can technically function on the $9 CHIP (using composite video and some USB or Bluetooth keyboard/mice you need to buy separately anyways), most people will likely not be stopping at just the bare-bones CHIP. There may also be some corporate subsidizing going on here but it probably isn't all that much. I'm sure most of the profit-making will be on the add-ons to make the CHIP actually more usable... bringing up the price as you can see to the cost of RasPi's, although CHIP does have integrated memory and also Bluetooth/WiFi which is an advantage over the RasPi (at least the first version). The processor may be a bit under-powered but good enough for basic tasks..... You are not likely going to make a media-box out of it.