I honestly don't know how bitmain makes money. The hardware and labor is relatively inexpensive. Probably around $50. But the international express shipping is the killer. Retail price to ship the s3 from china to usa is around $200. I am sure he gets some discount but how much lower can he get? Probably make $50 for each unit sold.
Folks we are close to the break even point now for the 20/28 nm. I foresee many hardware companies cease to operate if the price remains depressed and difficulty continue to go up at 10% a clip. Sit back and watch history unfold.
I have no doubt that it would cost around $200 to ship an S3 from the US to China in 2 days.
However, there is something weird/fishy about what the Chinese pay to ship things. Are there some government subsidies perhaps?
I say this because there are numerous products on eBay priced at $1-2 that ship for FREE from China. Granted it takes 2 weeks or more, but eventually the product transfers from the Chinese to the US postal system for the last half of the journey and I assume USPS gets paid a portion of the shipping cost. It costs me around $2 to send a padded envelope weighing 3oz anywhere in the US. How the heck do these companies in China ship a product to the US for less than $2 + the cost of the product? I know I am talking about USPS vs UPS, DHL, etc., but perhaps there is something that allows them to save on shipping that we don't know about.