[jwrallie]

I was just looking into it, with coupons and ongoing sale, it is possible to buy the Chinese version for about 7,500 JPY (45 USD) on Aliexpress, while on the official website (and Amazon) it is 13,900 JPY. I am not sure if this applies everywhere.

While there is an "unlock" option, it seems it is strongly implied that you should stick to mainstream custom firmware or risk getting stuck with a firmware forever [0].

[0] https://github.com/crosspoint-reader/crosspoint-reader#usb-l...

[wolvoleo]

I understand, I just wonder why they do this. Why lock their stuff down so much? Especially if they offer other channels that don't have this limitation.

[jwrallie]

My guess is that they identified two different groups of consumers, the ones who want to buy the cheapest product in China and the ones that want it hackable. If they sell it cheaper (and open) they kill the profits coming from the second group.