[nereye]

The WiFi (& Bluetooth) IC used in the Pi Pico W retails for ~$2.5, and presumably a bit less in volume (considering the Pico W is only $2 more than the base Pi Pico.

[baq]

Esp32-c3 super mini is less than $2 with free shipping from AliExpress. The usb-c cable I use to power it is more expensive. I get a serious cognitive dissonance when I think about it too much.

[blkhawk]

you can get certain variants of the esp32 at around 2USD. that gets you a whole board with USB-c.

[ryao]

Where can you find it for $2.5? The last I looked, it was around $6.

[ta988]

They are talking about the radio chip that's on the Pico W. not the whole pico w.

[ryao]

I am asking about the radio chip. The last I checked, buying one from a distributor costs around $6. You would need to do a huge order to get the price down to $2.5 per chip. The required order quantity is so huge that distributors do not list it.

[nereye]

From https://octopart.com/search?q=CYW43439&currency=USD&specs=0.

Indeed the lowest price $2.551 from Arrow has a MOQ of 5000 but Newark does have it for a promotional price of $2.73 for quantities as low as 1.

It’s not $2.5 but that’s why it was quoted as ~$2.5 in my reply, since it’s in the ballpark.

[ryao]

Thanks. I had not known about octopart.