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I'm starting developing .NET MicroFramework with Netduino. My softwares are not rebotic oriented, they are mostly related to reproducing video and related stuff. (I know that in order to reproduce video I'll need more powerful processors then Netduino but I'm using it to study now).

But one thing that keeps in my mind is: If I'm able to develop great software that aggregates value to the hardware and I manage to create a product, how can I make it commercially viable? I cant ship Netduino microcontrollers within my products due to possible licence issues and most of all: Price.

I'd need to order a company to produce and assembly boards for me, and I would then insert my software and distribute it. I guess the perfect place for this company to be in the world is China.

The problem is: How feasible is this? If I design a board, there wil be a company able to build for me for an affordable price? How much cheaper will it be than a third party Netduino board?

Thank you so much for any insight

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There's a reason microcontrollers with .NET haven't caught on. If you're still in the development phase, this should be a good sign that you're doing something wrong and need to consider other, more viable alternatives. – Mahmoud Al-Qudsi Feb 16 '12 at 20:39
Netduino itself is open source hardware based on an ARM 7 microcontroller. Depending on their licensing you could potentially find a house in china that could make that exact board populated at lower cost than the retail netduinos if you do it in volume. – CMP Feb 16 '12 at 20:47

2 Answers

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Almost every board from GHI electronics has schematics and some also have PCB layout available.

You can search for a single-chip netfm solution like the USBIZI (that is a NXP LPC2388 micro), and starts from there...

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Ditto with Netduino. – kenny Feb 17 '12 at 0:43
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1 - Buy everything you can. If you can buy a module from another company, there had better be some very compelling reasons why you want the design time, risk, inventory, and warranty replacement costs.

2 - Prototype local, shop global. Buy prototypes close to home. Time zones are easier to deal with, you can visit the factory if things go wrong, and there are no import taxes. If buying locally is no longer meeting your margins, then look to a Global supplier. Look at businesses offering Turnkey solutions.

3 - Price. When starting a new project, if you can't mark up your BOM costs 3-5 times, really look at whether the business is viable.

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