Hate to burst your bubble, but a rerun based on these numbers (1650 entries for 6000+ calculators) _ain't_ gonna happen. Even if this was just a small sample of the demeand the numbers still aren't there. Some of these entries have to be discounted too because some folks click on this "just because it's cool" - but when it comes to shelling out $40-$50+ they disappear.
You won't be able to price this calc at a premium even though it has a high 'cool factor': you hope to have regular non-collector sales too, and this calc is different enough/limited features when compared to TI-8X calcs and even HP33S that it has to fit in that price slot - no distributor/retailer will carry something that's 'out of slot'. So you could prob only charge $35-$45 MSRP.
The money to invest in this has to come from somewhere too. Who's gonna invest in this? You're gonna need $600K-$750K just to get started - funding setup costs, fund the first production run, hire a coupla sales folks in USA & Europe, and have some cash to hold together while a market (might) develop. And a risky proposition without high growth prospects? No one funds a one-product company either, esp. with TI, HP, Casio and Sharp as competition.
You're gonna need distrubution partners as well. I'd guess that on a $40+ calc the distributor and dealer combined get 40%-50% of the calculator's ASP (avg selling price).
As I've said here before, doing the software/firmware and finding the right chip is the EASY part. Using existing HP calc firmware and putting an emulation layer [with escapes for new I/O methods] can be done in a reasonable amount of time.
Making molds and keytops, having reliable keyboards, putting money up front for mask-ROM microcontrollers, plus the selling costs of packaging, distribution, warranty returns, etc. all add up. There's a vastly elevated selling cost since this is now a 'specialty' calculator now; it won't be sold alongside TI30X's at the local drugstore and reeducating folks about RPN benefits is costly.
Also the dirty secret in the consumer electronics industry is that 15%-30% of items get returned for refund and then enter the 'remainder' cycle where they are sold via refurb houses, surplus merchants or as 'scratch & ding' discounted items on a given co's website.
Here's my rough breakdown, with a few W.A.G.s (wild-assed guesses) based on amortized NRE costs of smaller production runs for a moderate-quality calc of a smaller production run:
$0.50 CPU/microcontroller w/mask ROM
$1.00 LCD
$0.30 PC board
$0.35 key membrane
$0.70 batteries
$2.00 custom keytops
$2.00 custom molded case + sleeve
$4.00 assembly, packaging (outside US)
$5.00 importation/support/cost of sales effort
-------
$15.85
So you might clear $5-$6 per calculator (given your distrib buys 'em for $20-$22 for selling price of $35-$45).
That's if EVERYTHING works right, people really want to buy them over the long term, etc etc
Bill Wiese
San Jose CA USA
