What actually drives the cost
- Electronic complexity: sensors, radio, power management and displays each add design and test effort.
- Firmware scope: a product that updates itself and talks to the cloud costs more to develop than one that does not.
- Prototype iterations: the number of board spins and builds needed to de-risk the design.
- Certification scope: wireless products carry more testing than non-radio products.
- Enclosure tooling: injection mould tools are a capital investment in their own right.
- Production quantities: higher volumes justify more engineering to drive unit cost down.
How to get a real number
Start with an evaluation. A structured look at the idea, its market and its technical risk lets us give you a scoped, staged quote, where each phase has a defined cost and a defined output and you decide at each gate whether to continue.