[Asterisk-Users] Cost of IP Phones, or Isn't It Just Software?

[Jay Milk]

I took a little foray into pricing out IP Phones for my home pbx
yesterday.  $75-$750 seems to be quite a range, so I took a closer look.

Cisco, for example, has different models such as the 7940 and 7960 which
seem to only differ in the software.  And buying a Cisco 7920 should
cost you $500 w/o a license, and $200 more with a license?  It seems to
me that these prices are substantially inflated.

Just to get an idea of hardware cost involved here:
- I can buy a 4-port router with built-in firewall, web-server and
email-client for $20-$30 RETAIL.  That would indicate a hardware cost of
$10 max.
- I can purchase a Sipura SPA-2000 for $100 -- actual hardware cost
should be $50-$75.
- I can also purchase a fully featured ADSI speakerphone for $80 retail,
with an expected hardware cost of $50-$60.

Combine all these pieces for hardware cost of $110-$145 -- I'd think
that synergies would push hardware cost under $100 -- and you have all
the hardware required to build at least a 2-line IP speakerphone with a
nice large display, webserver for config, and enough processing power to
run some advanced functionality.  You could even add one of the Yamaha
sound-chips for downloadable ringtones if you so desire.

The 2-line restriction would be purely theoretical, allowing for 4, 6,
or even 12 lines to be registered (who really needs more than 3 or 4?).
The device could be well documented, opening the door/port for
open-source software.

Does this sound to utopian, or do my fellow list-members think there is
an idea here?  How many more PBXs would you integrators sell if the cost
was down to $150/station for a business-class phone?  How many more
features could be implemented with an open-source UA?  (Menus, Visual
Voicemail, extended CallerID info, Call Delegation, Queue handling,
Email, Weather, Reminders, .... )

Could this be profitable?  
- You bet, I'd guess you could sell a few 100,000 of these devices in
the next three years.  The design would be open, but protected from
clones by virtue copyright law (bootloader and operating system could be
proteges).  A public company would own the design and contract with a
manufacturer.

Could this be financed?
- I don't think it would take that much -- maybe $10K - $20K to purchase
samples and development hardware and software.  Engineers could donate
time in exchange for revenue shares later.  A small investment would be
counted toward a purchase of a finished product, a large investment
would buy you a share in the company.  200 active members in this list
donating $100 each could get a handful of engineers on their way.

Where do we get the know-how?
- Partner with existing companies like Digium and Sipura.  Once the
project is complete, they would receive revenue shares and/or utilize
their manufacturing resources.

Am I dreaming?