[Libre-soc-dev] 3d gpu business plan

[Hendrik Boom]

On Tue, Dec 29, 2020 at 10:43:52AM +0000, Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton wrote:
> ---
> crowd-funded eco-conscious hardware: https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68
> 
> On Tue, Dec 29, 2020 at 7:22 AM Lauri Kasanen <cand at gmx.com> wrote:
> >
> > On Mon, 28 Dec 2020 18:59:19 +0000
> > Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton <lkcl at lkcl.net> wrote:
> >
> > > On Monday, December 28, 2020, Lauri Kasanen <cand at gmx.com> wrote:
> > > > invest in this effort, when the minute the fruit is ready, someone else
> > > > can reap the rewards" - it does not make sense moneywise.
> > >
> > > the silicon industry is unlike anything else.  costs are immense, lead
> > > times are ridiculous.  this presents two crucial barriers that can be
> > > exploited in a time-dependent fashion.
> >
> > Any lead time they need they can do in parallel to our development,
> > thanks to the open development model.
> 
> of the core: yes.  of the peripherals: no.  when i said "HDL takes
> 10-12 months to negotiate with suppliers" i was referring to the
> peripherals.  the time this takes - just the *negotiation with
> suppliers* is 10-12 months, Lauri.
> 

So if as Lauri says, no one will be willing to partner with us once 
everything has been done to make it free, then the ones who have already 
been working with us since the beginning well have a significant lead 
time to profit.

And compare with another industry -- the book industry.
There has been no shortage of publishers willing to print popular books 
whose coyright has expired.  Dracula and Shakespeare and Jane Austin and 
the Quran and the Bible are still in print, despite the substantial 
costs involved in setting up a print run.

No, the costs aren't anywhere near as high as setting up a silicon fab 
run, but you might consider the book industry as a small example, an 
industrial scale model if you will.

It depends on demand for the final product.

> 
> > We have no time advantage.
> 
> we have a *huge* time advantage, Lauri.  it is inexperience with the
> Silicon Industry that prevents you from seeing this.

A business that waits until the product has proved profitable will have 
a time disadvantage.  Therein lies the time advantage.

-- hendrik

> 
> this is not software.
> 
> l.
> 
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