Taking prototypes to market.

[KL27x]

Distribution alone can easily represent more than 50% of the total markup accruing to the distribution channels vs. the original manufacturer.

Yeah, and this leaves 10% of profit to be very little. 

Sell it on Amazon? Small seller can easily pay more than 50% of the gross to Amazon by the time the fees roll in.

Internet and social media marketing/advertising? Sure, they just want 25-30% of your gross for sales they get referred to your site. Hopefully, you have created your own webstore what doesn't take 25-50% at the POS.

This is why marketers and distributors (and shows like Sharktank) like to get you hyped about gross sales. That number looks way, wayyyy better than net profit.

Does anyone know of companies which can take prototype designs to full production and sales?

There was a site called GadgetGangster that did exactly this. They sold your design as kit and/or finished product. They bought all the stuff. Carried all the inventory. Did the manufacturing. They (hopefully) cut you the check for your share every somesuch time period. It was a bit like Sparkfun or Adafruit, but with more Propeller less Arduino. I think the owner was into Propeller, himself, and probably a lot of those were his own designs.

I am pretty sure they went out of business. But if you think it's a good idea, have at it. Even one or two gadgets is a giant handful of work. Don't forget the testing, the failure/repairs and service/support.

[EEEnthusiast]

I looked at your product, and its well, way more than i'd pay for it.  Simply because the same functionality is avaialble on the $99 IOT dev boards that i use already. The extremely low current measurement etc is all there, and i can easily connect it to the tools that.

I'd be unsure about the size and scope of your market.    Maybe you should try crowdsupply...

The IOT dev boards cannot measure short spikes of current, say 10 us wide. This is where the tool is different. It has wide dynamic range and bandwidth at the same time. For e.g. it can measure some current spike which can change from 10uA to 100mA in 2us and lasts for 10uS. Other tools will just filter this out.

[EEEnthusiast]

I have found a vendor in the USA who can do everything in production and order fulfillment.

Surely there are a plethora of Contract Manufacturers in your indicated country of India who could do this at a better cost and without the international shipping?

Yes there are many contract manufacturers in India who can do this well. The current process is for me to buy the components and pass them over to the assembly house. The components are a major cost and there is almost 20% tariff when I import them. Then there is extra cost when I ship the finished products outside of India. (shipping + logistics)

Making in the USA will save on the 20% tariff and the high overseas shipping cost. In my calculations, the extra labour cost in USA, is still lesser than the tariff + shipping . Not to mention the long transit time of 5 to 8 days in shipping international.

But most of my customers are located in the USA and EU/UK.  Shipping from the USA is faster and cheaper and boosts customer confidence.

[EEEnthusiast]

example would be https://www.microchip.com/DevelopmentTools/ProductDetails/dm320111

Thank you for your info.
After a little research I found something dedicated from ST https://www.st.com/en/evaluation-tools/x-nucleo-lpm01a.html
Any users?

Looks interesting, but there is no mention about the accuracy of the measurements. Is there a datasheet for this?

[mrpackethead]

They have a ada4528-1 in the front end and AD8656 which buffers and provides a LPF.   Accuracy is a question of your total system, i plug mine into a 10 bit scope.  Its more than accurate enough for me to model ultra low IOT devices..   And since i'm able to control and model all my testing ( and control my scope and collect automatic measurements its working pretty well for me.         Yeah, sure the overall system is a lot more expensive than your box..   $12,000 Scope....   But it gets used for a lot more than just this job.

https://www.analog.com/en/products/ada4528-1.html

[Mangozac]

The components are a major cost and there is almost 20% tariff when I import them.

If the components are made in China then there is currently a 25% tariff in the US! 

Seriously though, it sounds like you've done an appropriate amount of homework regarding the manufacturing location 

[Mechatrommer]

or just make a uA sensitive current probe for DSO, all acquisitions are in the DSO, only need to build shunt and filter or whatever front end to measure the current. hence 100MHz bandwidth 1GSps @ $400 or cheaper, not just for IOT but for everything.

[mrpackethead]

or just make a uA sensitive current probe for DSO, all acquisitions are in the DSO, only need to build shunt and filter or whatever front end to measure the current. hence 100MHz bandwidth 1GSps @ $400 or cheaper, not just for IOT but for everything.

Indeed.  my fear for the OP, is that the perceived market size for the product might be a lot smaller than expected.    Its highly niche.

[AndyC_772]

Indeed, and that's why the industry really doesn't work that way round.

If you have a product which is demonstrably capable of generating revenue, then of course it can be sold off. You'll need proof of its turnover, costs and net profit in order to make a case for why someone should consider buying it from you.

If you don't have that commercial evidence, the sales pitch becomes much, much harder. You'd need to find a potential buyer who is able to understand what's special and unique about your product, and who can predict for themselves what the likely revenue would be. Without concrete proof that it's nonzero, you're fighting a losing battle unless you have some product or technology that's obviously game-changing.

[Fire Doger]

Indeed, and that's why the industry really doesn't work that way round.

If you have a product which is demonstrably capable of generating revenue, then of course it can be sold off. You'll need proof of its turnover, costs and net profit in order to make a case for why someone should consider buying it from you.

If you don't have that commercial evidence, the sales pitch becomes much, much harder. You'd need to find a potential buyer who is able to understand what's special and unique about your product, and who can predict for themselves what the likely revenue would be. Without concrete proof that it's nonzero, you're fighting a losing battle unless you have some product or technology that's obviously game-changing.

It's a test and measurement instrument. If someone needs to make a measurement he knows what tools he need. I don't think that engineers are buying tools the same way the rest of world buys stuff...
For example, how a very short pulse which is undetectable by other cheaper solution will effect my revenue? It's better to have it, to expensive if you don't need it. If my usage is so niche to be a must have feature and "close enough" is not enough then probably I can afford a real power analyser. My opinion is that its above hobby level and bellow industrial.
I would like to have but I won't buy it. Also Dave mentioned something similar in in his uSupply and it may kill this.

[EEEnthusiast]

Yes, the product is niche, but there are other products with similar function like the Otii Arc and the JS110. With the number of IOT developers increasing, and battery life of the products being an important factor, there is a small but significant percentage of the developers interested in such a measurement system. For e.g. a firmware engineer or application software engineer would want to know the impact of his code on the overall power consumption and power profile. They are better off with a dedicated equipment than using a shunt and oscilloscope. Will see how the sales go!!!

[Mechatrommer]

dso usually the first thing on the table, just add a little weight on current probe in the drawer, with pc dependent device, they will need a PC next to them probably contaminating harmonics or EMC which is one good reason i think for such pluses measurements. how few pluses will affect battery life significantly? negative pluses will charge back the battery anyway, no? not a critics, just food for thought when your customers ask, cheers.

[OwO]

I think the price is a little on the high side; I would say around the $100 mark is where you will get a big increase in sales.

[EEEnthusiast]

I think the price is a little on the high side; I would say around the $100 mark is where you will get a big increase in sales.

The BOM cost itself is much higher than $100 at the current volumes. Precision analog components are not cheap and that is the most of the cost. Then there is cost of software development, product testing and qualifications. My be few quarters down, the price can fall due to high volume. I have looked at other competition and they are at similar price range. So at the current moment, there is little room to play.

[EEEnthusiast]

dso usually the first thing on the table, just add a little weight on current probe in the drawer, with pc dependent device, they will need a PC next to them probably contaminating harmonics or EMC which is one good reason i think for such pluses measurements. how few pluses will affect battery life significantly? negative pluses will charge back the battery anyway, no? not a critics, just food for thought when your customers ask, cheers.

In case of devices like WiFi, most of the current is in the form of pulses of few 10s of micro seconds wide. This consumes most of the energy from the battery.

[coppice]

Indeed.  my fear for the OP, is that the perceived market size for the product might be a lot smaller than expected.    Its highly niche.

When I was working in ULP applications this is the device EVERYONE wanted, and the market for ULP applications is no longer small.

[ebastler]

They take it to volume production, handle marketing and sales, and handle all the logistics like customer returns, warranty etc. And they work on a royalty or revenue share model.

I don't think this is likely to work. For the company to be effective at marketing and sales, your product has to fit into their portfolio. They can't be "agnostic" about it and take on board any product that comes their way. (That's the big difference to a contract manufacturer.)

And if they are indeed active in the right market segment, and already have other products which will complement yours -- what is the likelihood that your product will excatly fill a gap they perceive in their portfolio? And won't they expect their products to have a common look & feel, which your design of course doesn't share?

For a specific product you have developed or have in mind, you may be able to identify a company in that space which might happen to like your product and take it on board. Better talk to them before you have fully finalized your design, so you can consider their input. But a "generic" company, with the business model "We will make and market your product, whatever it is"?  I don't think so...

[spongle]

They take it to volume production, handle marketing and sales, and handle all the logistics like customer returns, warranty etc. And they work on a royalty or revenue share model.

I don't think this is likely to work. For the company to be effective at marketing and sales, your product has to fit into their portfolio. They can't be "agnostic" about it and take on board any product that comes their way. (That's the big difference to a contract manufacturer.)

And if they are indeed active in the right market segment, and already have other products which will complement yours -- what is the likelihood that your product will excatly fill a gap they perceive in their portfolio? And won't they expect their products to have a common look & feel, which your design of course doesn't share?

For a specific product you have developed or have in mind, you may be able to identify a company in that space which might happen to like your product and take it on board. Better talk to them before you have fully finalized your design, so you can consider their input. But a "generic" company, with the business model "We will make and market your product, whatever it is"?  I don't think so...

Something of that sort existed. But big surprise, it failed: https://www.inc.com/christine-lagorio/what-happened-to-quirky.html