Hacker News Reader

I'm not sure people realize how cheap small chips are that aren't on the bleeding edge of the process.

what market are you talking about? hobby projects market? that's for sure, but that's not where the big money is.

consumer goods with builtin wifi like switchable lightbulbs, remote-controlled extension cords, etc are often esp32 plus a relais on the IO pins.

The "smart" home market. ESP chips are heavily used there.

I think you might of gotten that impression after years of being raped by TI/STM levels of margin. TI even tried to sell their microcontroller with wifi at ~$20-30 price point.

You are seeing economies of scale (and cheap labour) in action.

And people have the gall to badmouth capitalism from the comfort of their Ikea couch on their Iphone.

After an 8-hour work day or on a weekend. Thanks capitalism!