Based on the current list of vouchers (still under review) we have loans of EUR 100 or higher from 420 addresses.

The information we have on file for the number of devices is 449, but this information is likely to be outdated and unreliable. We'll get solid numbers from the shop anyway, and a rough "105-115% the number of loans" estimate is good enough for now.

How these numbers will translate to pre-orders is indeed the great unknown. They can go up or down, due to the effects you mentioned.

Making more devices would indeed help. Not only in terms of more customers sharing the fixed costs, but also in terms of improving our position when it comes to negotiating prices. If you buy a few hundred pieces, you pay catalog prices, if you buy tens of millions, you own the manufacturer's output and get to dictate what the product is worth. The closer we can get to the latter case, the better :-)

There are limits, though: while we can make lots of NeoN boards (limited by N97 cameras, I guess, but that may be in the tens of thousands), the market for N900 parts is more limited. So the maximum number of Neo900 devices we could make before looking for some plan B should be around 1 k, maybe 2 k.

In general, reaching more potential buyers is certainly a goal, and crowdfunding is one of the options to consider. However, crowdfunding adds new risks, so we have to be very careful with taking such a step. E.g., the EUR depreciation, while very unpleasant, is something a project like Neo900, that has some wiggle room with the final price, can survive. On the other hand, if this was standard crowdfunding, where the final price is set from the beginning, we would now be writing apologetic letters about "how it just didn't work out" or try desperate measures like freezing the project until the exchange rate improves. There is no shortage of sad stories of projects that fell into that trap with crowdfunding, and thus came to a tragic end, usual after prolonged and intense agony for all involved.

So it's important to choose a moment when the risks are very low and also when we can effectively market the project, and not divert already scarce resources into an ineffective campaign.

Thanks for your input, these are good thoughts !

- Werner