I hear your concern but you may be talking about two different issues. There does appear to be a hang up in the chip supply for the Librem 5, but I don’t necessarily think that making more of one thing (car chips) necessarily diminishes the output of another thing (phone chips) when it’s not clear how much NXT compartmentalizes operations and/or may be expanding manufacturing capabilities. Not to mention that companies that make phones and tech/comm devices are worth far more than car companies. https://companiesmarketcap.com/ Smaller companies like Purism should benefit from that (at least in terms of competition from car makers).
What are Purism’s options to maintain and defend their place in NXP’s backorder queue against car giants and their lackeys, anyway?
The Librem 5 USA seems to be an attempt to address that issue. Either way, everyone and everything is feeling the pinch right now so I don’t think any recourse is going to fix things in the short term.
Looks like the automotive industry, rather than Pine64 and Fairphone, have become Purism’s worst competitors.
@Kyle_Rankin recently brought up the example of Ford as evidence that global industries as a whole are ramping up investments in manufacturing and supply which ends up benefiting everyone. I think that’s accurate.
While competition is a legitimate factor in business, often times it’s misunderstood. Competitors also develop synergies that help each other - expanding markets, driving innovation and ultimately helping each other make more money.