The thing they seem to be missing here is that the CHIP isn't a sub-$10 computer. They did a sub-$10 Kickstarter as a marketing effort, but their BOM on this chip is over $10, so it's apparent that they were doing the Kickstarter at a loss just for publicity.
The C.H.I.P. manufacturers disagree, and say that it really will be $9 when shipping, but given that it's still vaporware at the moment, it doesn't really make sense to compare to something that has already shipped tens (hundreds?) of thousands of units.
The CHIP (which really exists) can be ordered for $8 at the moment: http://getchip.com/
I understand the company and its product are not as well known as Raspberry Pi. But calling it vaporware while they actually have shipped what they promised and seem to continue doing that is unfair. Sure, they have less of a history and track record but so far there is absolutely no reason for any doubt.
Even the mere fact that Rasberry Pi (which he obviously trusts) can make a 'pc' for $5 makes it feasible for another company to make something for $9...
Yeah, this page gives no indication about how much that will be.
And no product info either, no list of specs. They have an almost hidden link to their kickstar, which greetz you with a wall of text, and the only 'specs' shown are of their attachable screen+keyboard.
Reward: $150
Shipping: $30 (Europe)
KERNEL HACKERS ONLY:
1x C.H.I.P. pre-release “alpha” model,
Get the earliest access and help us develop C.H.I.P.’s software!
~plus~
5x C.H.I.P.
1x PocketC.H.I.P.
and get your C.H.I.P.s and PocketC.H.I.P. from the earliest shipments of release models as soon as they are available.
I received two Alpha's in two separate shipments. The rest still has to come, but should be on schedule. Did not (yet) pay anything extra (like taxes).
So, right now you've paid $180 for two $9 computers.
Assuming they do actually fulfill their rewards, you will wind up with 6 or 7 $9 computers (unclear if the second alpha was just an extra, or if that counts towards one of your 5), plus a $40 screen/keyboard/battery (based on the Kickstarter pricing of the C.H.I.P. plus PocketC.H.I.P.).
So, using a $9 price for C.H.I.P. and $40 for PocketC.H.I.P., that should cost $103. You spent $150 on it plus the shipping. Now, sure, that gets you pre-release models and "earliest shipments of release models", but it's not a very good demonstration that they can actually sell these for $9 at scale.
I dunno. They seem to have every intention of selling these for $9 at scale, but unless their BOM has changed substantially in the production version, it doesn't seem like that would be possible. Since the production version is not actually available yet, and no specs have been posted, it remains to be seen how closely it resembles the alpha version. So, that's why I say it's vaporware. Yes, the alpha models have shipped, but if those aren't the same as the production models, then the production models still are vaporware. It seems that at scale, they're either going to have to increase the price, ship something with a different BOM, Allwinner is going to have to drop their component costs substantially, or for some reason Allwinner is quoting substantially different prices to Olimex as they are to the C.H.I.P. guys.
But anyhow, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. They say they will launch their $8 sale tomorrow, and if they do that and actually ship more than a few at that price without exorbitant shipping, then we can say that it's not vaporware. But until those actually ship (and remember, tomorrow's sale is still a pre-order, and are supposed to ship after all of the Kickstarter rewards ship), the $5 RPi actually exists today, while the only people who have a C.H.I.P. today spent a lot more than $9 on it.
https://olimex.wordpress.com/2015/06/05/how-to-get-in-the-ne...
The C.H.I.P. manufacturers disagree, and say that it really will be $9 when shipping, but given that it's still vaporware at the moment, it doesn't really make sense to compare to something that has already shipped tens (hundreds?) of thousands of units.