[Leherenn]

I don't know if the technical constraints are more real, just different.

When you start interacting with hardware, a lot of easy stuff can become more difficult (testing, deployment, debugging, ...) and some difficult stuff becomes easier (number of platforms to support, control over the product, scope of the project, ...). Everything is generally slower when you have to interact with hardware.

Politics is still there as others have talked about, and the complaints about the tools become more "do we really have to code in ANSI C with a proprietary toolchain?".

I'm not saying don't go for it, it's a really nice domain and IMO there's a satisfaction that's unmatched by pure software when you see your hardware project comes to fruition; but don't expect the paradise.