Email them...?
Nah, I'll wait for them to answer in this thread.
I can't be the only person wondering about this.
That said I'm also under the impression Mars is to raise funds for the ASIC development and that the first round of ASICs has no real profit as a lot is non-recurring engineering costs being covered. After that point they can lower pricing. The reward for those purchasing first is hopefully getting in whilst hashrate provides a strong return. Not too sure what happens with the sale price/ROI after that point, but then neither does anyone right now.
Also with respect to Litecoin mining, I was told the scrypt algorithms is larger and more complex than what is required for Bitcoin and requires very fast access to memory. It's not just the amount of memory, and they will be working on that.
In any case they also stated to bring the FPGA price down they need to sell 400 units, so economies of scale are a factor as well.
Anything more specific you will have to email them, but for sure it's economies of scale and the fact they want to build trust as opposed to profit on this first Mars device.
Color me confused, for the way I read it is that Mars is going to be sold at a lose to build faith in their company, using the profits of that lose venture to develop the ASIC-based rigs, then afterward lower the price point because the non-recurring engineering costs would already be covered.
I want to hire their accountant or put their CFO on my payroll. Taking a page from their business model, starting with nothing, I could sell lower grade barn wood at a lose, then use the profit from those sales to sell a higher quality barn wood, and since all my equipment is now paid for, I would be in position to undercut my competition by lower my prices. And all that is predicated on the barns being given to me free and the paying of labor is deferred during the nascent stage of the operation.
Here's the kicker. I'm not doing this to make millions in profit. I'm doing it to save the planet by having fewer trees cut down, and to further the barn wood furniture movement. To prove that Lumbermar & Poles AB (American Barns) is a viable entity to trust your pre-order money with, we have teamed up with Acme Barns in Coyote, ID, supplying all their barn wood needs. Placement of our entity onto their website is forthcoming.
It's not that far fetched at all, think of it as a brand new shop opening up and they need to create new clients so the mechanic has a grand opening sale and offers cheap at cost oil changes. I have seen many new mechanic shops do this and it works well. Consider it as advertising. It's a good idea as the need for new products comes along the reputation of the company is well enforced through the products durability and the fact their in the hands of those customers already.
I like it.makes sense. As everything else the more they build the cheaper the RnD