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Why is it that places like Newegg can sell consumer Bluetooth products for less than $10, but the only Bluetooth modules I can find on Mouser or Digikey cost close to $20?

I am looking for the cheapest way to support bidirectional communication via Bluetooth SPP. Does anyone know why these chips are so expensive?

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Nothing to do with electronic design. Question should be closed. – Leon Heller Jan 13 '12 at 10:37

closed as off topic by Brian Carlton, Nick Alexeev, Dave Tweed, Olin Lathrop, embedded.kyle Nov 9 '12 at 15:51

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2 Answers

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In mass production a BT chip costs less than 75 cents. The problem is none of the vendors will work with you, you need to find a module maker who can support you. In MP you can reach to 5$ level with module including antenna etc. good luck.

The key vendors to look at are CSR and BRCM. We use a Taiwanese module maker with one of their solutions. APMComm is the vendor, there are tons of others just look around.

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Thanks for the info. What's "MP"? – Zach Rattner Jan 13 '12 at 16:01
BRCM = Broadcom. – Brian Carlton Jan 13 '12 at 17:20
MP= Mass Production – Frank Jan 16 '12 at 3:11
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We are currently having a similar problem. Here is what we discovered so far:

For small (e.g. prototyping) quantities eBay has quite a few modules available for as low as £5.
For production quantities there seem to be plenty of Asian vendors, it's just a matter of finding the right one. Check on places like Alibaba, as Frank mentions as low as $5 is possible with the right quantities.

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