It is an odd thing though, the Elecraft KH1 is a CW only radio, selling for 600 USD. Not really, if you add all the essentials, it stacks upto 1000 USD. Yet, they sell about 3000 radios per month.

Radioddity sells the Xeigus in even higher numbers.

On the other hand, QRP Labs or HF signals builds open, hackable radios at about 1/5th the price. Yet, they are an acquired taste, to put it mildly.

QRP Labs and HF Signals lack any meaningful name recognition, and when a prospective buyer of an HF Signals radio takes a look at this group, the official support channel for radios that effectively ship as an unsupported/no warranty product, all I see are people talking about doing things inside the radios with soldering irons or modifying software, which is great, but that is the opposite of the experience with a Xeigu or Elecraft radio.

Some may say that those are complete radios, and these are kits or thst they are not fully functional.
Neither is true, the QMX fully assembled retaila for 220 USD, with the kitchen sink.

A complete radio with no (real) warranty.

The basic function of an sbitx (ssb/cw) is far more stable and superior to the G90. Sure, maybe the FT8 logging doesnt work as expectdd, but the G90 doesnt have it at all!

The G90 is an appliance, the sBitx is a project, as described in your own website. If you want to sell the sBitx in greater numbers, you need to rethink your marketing approach.

I guess, this is the nature of open radios and will remain so. Pretty much like Linux.

Maybe.

But remember, your competition for selling sBitx at $400 is not just other QRP radios like Xeigu, but also the secondhand market. It would be difficult to advise a new ham to send you $400 for an sBitx when he could pick up a nice, clean Yaesu FT-450 for the same money, $400. You can argue for the sBitx features over the second-hand radio from a few years ago, but the perception is just different.

The Linux comparison is pretty close - Linux advocates will go blue in the face telling people about all the vastly superior technology in Linux vs Windows, and then harp on cost ("but Linux is free!"), but the reality is, Linux is not just one thing (all those Distros), it is never 'done' (new releases every 6 months?), and it's not what we use at work, it's not what our kids use at school, and to be honest, the average person never pays a "windows tax" (pay for a Windows license) - it comes bundled with the hardware, and any license fee paid is typically offset by incentives to include/preload 3rd-party software on the desktop/laptop. (When companies like Dell sell new computers without windows, they cost almost the same.)

Hope this helps, I am positive on the work HF Signals does, and I want to see you succeed to the levels you hope for.

Ken, N2VIP

- f