The time consuming part is probably getting the HW manufactured. Why not code up the software for multiple platforms while waiting on that? I think covering both iPhone and Android is a pretty good move.
I am not a hardware guy, but the few pieces of hardware I've seen ordered took a week to get a run of 100 test units, they spent two weeks working some bugs out, then put in an order of 1000 which came a week after placing the order.
This was done out of a shop in the US, not sure what it is like doing production runs overseas, but I can't imagine it's much slower.
This of course ignores the time spent designing/redesigning units, however, ordering batches of something from a manufacturer doesn't take long.
Unless you are dealing with supply chain issues on new(ish) or rare components, which can take many months to resolve. The WakeMate is simple enough that I wouldn't expect this to be an issue, but who knows?
Their blog talks about how you have to have a special auth-chip to pair with an iPhone, that could be an issue...Though I think Apple would make sure those were in large supply.
I saw an FCC stamp – getting FCC approval would have taken at least a month. And I have no idea whether something like this would require FDA approval, but I'm sure they had to at least research that.
This was done out of a shop in the US, not sure what it is like doing production runs overseas, but I can't imagine it's much slower.
This of course ignores the time spent designing/redesigning units, however, ordering batches of something from a manufacturer doesn't take long.