Comment by kelnos
6 hours ago
Sure, but a quick search of AliExpress shows that you can get lots of ARM chips from them too, and I assume those are without any "verification hullabalu" as well, no?
6 hours ago
Sure, but a quick search of AliExpress shows that you can get lots of ARM chips from them too, and I assume those are without any "verification hullabalu" as well, no?
In the article, he addresses the issue of clones vs 1st party RISC chips on AliExpress. As a mere dabbler, I have been bit by undisclosed errata on an STM-compatible/bootleg/clone/counterfeit Arm chip while using the official STM SDK.
Sure, but that problem should exist for both ARM and RISC-V. And if it doesn't yet, it will once RISC-V becomes more popular.
Maybe. There's less wiggle room though. You can't make a clone of a WCH, ESP32, GD32V, or RP2040 at a low enough price point to really profit from the gap.
If Quintauris successfully makes a RISC-V range for automotive use, there'd probably be margin to clone those and sell at a profit, but skirting automotive certification regulations is a high-risk game that (hopefully!) doesn't have many buyers.
If they make an IoT line, again, there might be margin in it, but you'd be trying to fit in between buyers willing and able to engage with Chinese sellers but for some reason unwilling or unable to engage with existing Chinese sellers of existing IoT RISC-V parts. Quintauris is a very, very long way away from being a "household name" along the lines of STM32 or FTDI.
> Sure, but that problem should exist for both ARM and RISC-V.
I don't know why you'd take that as a given when marquee RISC-V microcontrollers are almost universally low-cost, but Arm has pricier marquee parts, thus a bigger opportunity for undercutting the market leader on price with a cloned product.