Openmoko Community Survey 2011 – Results

Fernando Martins fernando at cmartins.nl
Mon Jan 16 23:19:31 CET 2012


On 01/16/2012 09:31 AM, Dr. H. Nikolaus Schaller wrote:
> 3. at the current price of the GTA04 group tour (450-500 EUR range) we
> can expect approx. 30% buyers. This would still mean 6000 of the originally
> sold GTA02 devices. Hm. We are still far away from this figure with
> subscriptions. What are the reasons?
For reasons already pointed out by others, the real market might be the 
subscribers of this same list. Then price becomes the limitation. As 
others, I'm also willing to contribute with a donation (100€) or high 
risk small investment, but not the current price.

> 4. a final observation is that I have to conclude that some of us have
> no realistic perception of the market prices.
>
> More than 40% would not want to pay more than 200-250 EUR
> for a complete GTA04 (even with case etc.).
>
> This makes me really puzzled as the GTA02 was never sold cheaper
> than 199 EUR. Isn't getting UMTS, fast 3D graphics any value to the
> majority of the Openmoko community?
>
High end phones cost around 500€ and the OpenMoko experience has taught 
us that "open" comes by with compromising the specs. I'm not sure the 
GTA04 has been shown (marketed) as spec competitive with high end phones 
of 500€.
> The cheapest UMTS Android 2.2 device I can currently get in
> Germany is at 129 EUR (most likely from some overstock clearance).
> Has a 320x240 display, no sensors, no free and open software. No
> hardware description, no schematics. Appears to be crap and much
> less featured than the GTA04. But the poll result indicates this is the
> way we should go. Really?
>
> I wnder how the community thinks it can be done at such low prices?
I think the situation has changed a lot since the initial introduction 
of the OpenMoko, in particular with the introduction of Android. At this 
pace, how much will it take for an Android phone manufacturer to release 
a fully open phone? And more importantly, right now what are the 
advantages of openness of the GTA04? Why exactly is it more free? What 
is its competitive advantage(s)? Again, I have not seen this in a big 
billboard, and I admit I have not done the research myself.

Fernando




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