Are RAK Wireless in the business of competing with their customers? If they are selling components to device manufacturers AND producing their own Meshtastic devices that’s a mistake. It will discourage other companies from developing products using RAK’s LoRa components since they can always be undercut.
Companies considering the space would instead be motivated to manufacture their own LoRa boards.
In the short term it may be more profitable for RAK to sell consumer devices but in the long term it will inevitably result in a smaller market-share for RAK’s LoRa products. This is one of those classic strategic errors in a manufacturing business. They need to decide, do they want to be a component supplier or a device manufacturer?
Competition is good, release something better!
the complete rak product is a bit expensive anyway.
probably just expensively 3d printed , so no mass product, just for the lazy ones, that dont want o build themselfs.
t-echoe is somehow better, but less expensive.
I agree, competition is good provided it is fair. Competing with one’s supplier isn’t fair because ultimately you can’t win.
One could counter by saying one just needs to make a product that RAK aren’t making/aren’t planning to make (how would one know?) or which is so niche it isn’t worth their while to make.
The problem is mid-scale businesses will be discouraged from using RAK’s components and instead will create their own. At that point, RAK either gets pushed into the devices camp - which requires marketing skills they don’t have - and they lose their investment in components, or they retrench as a components company.
There’s an inherent tension between making components and making devices. Ultimately RAK’s skills lie in the former. Over the long term making the picks and shovels usually proves to be the most profitable strategy since it leaves the expensive business of innovating hardware/software/new markets to others.
Meh, most of that is pretty antiquated thinking protecting a small business you must have. Meshtastic is excited for more devices from more manufacturers pushing their limits.
You’re right. It is antiquated thinking. It’s based on more than thirty years working in manufacturing!
Let me put it another way. You make devices. Let’s say you want to scale up and invest $500k of your own money. Would it be worth potentially competing with a supplier?
That disincentive limits the growth of the market aka the number of end-users using RAK based products.