For anyone who can't be bothered to use their brains, the prices are specifically high because they are SAMPLE chips. Its to discourage one developer buying more than they need which is unfair - Avalon will only have a tiny batch until their actual batches for SALE come in.
Hmm i think they should be free for established proven developers.
Such strategy is better for chips adoption.
They don't need better chip adoption, there is limited supply and they have to open it up as a level playing field. There are more developers than there are chips.
Asia has been busy buying 1,000,000s of Avalon chips while the forums have 'boycotted' them thinking its still Yifu when they quite simply don't care. This isn't the company Avalon, this isn't the company that did trade ins, this isn't the company that random batch 1 2 and 3. If people don't want to buy, they don't have to.