[kayodelycaon]

I don’t think you could manufacture a small run like that without the price being extremely high.

Say you charge $1,000 per device. That means you need to build an entire company, pay staff, and prototype then manufacture a custom hardware device with customized software with less than a million dollars. Costs add up real fast.

[alabhyajindal]

Why does the cost need to be so high? Chinese markets have many small phone options like Soyes and Servo that cost less than $100. Unfortunately, these devices are potentially loaded with malware.

Can a similar device without malware not be made in small batches? At a selling price of $500 or less?

[coldpie]

I actually had a brief email conversation with the folks running the project in the OP. Basically they said they can't get a reasonable-quality screen in that size. No one makes it. They would have to spin up a whole new manufacturing line for a quality, small screen and the cost on that is insane. The screens on the small phones you're talking about are very low quality.

[kayodelycaon]

I’m pretty sure a manufacturer can cobble something together from existing parts or even white label a phone for you.

The end result will be a $100 quality phone.