Thanks for mentioning the NitroKey NitroPad X230–I didn’t know about it.
This product was first offered for sale on 2020-01-08 and its anti-interdiction costs less (€100 + €20), so this is an example of Purism inspiring competitors. Given that Purism uses the NitroKey Pro 2 for its Librem Key, this is more like an upstream supplier deciding to offer a competing product.
This is another example of Purism pushing change in the Linux hardware industry. Purism was the first to sell a laptop with a neutralized Intel ME, and then System76, ThinkPenguin and TUXEDO Computers followed its example. Purism was the first to sell new Linux laptops with Coreboot preinstalled, and then System76 followed, and now TUXEDO Computers and Slimbook are also working on Coreboot ports. (There were used Linux laptops and Chromebooks on sale with Coreboot before, but the new Linux laptop companies didn’t decide that Coreboot was important until Purism did it). Purism was the first to sell a laptop with Heads, and then whiteboxdev.de and NitroKey followed.
(I’m not sure if System76’s decision to create its own distro, Pop!_OS, was inspired by Purism first creating its own distro, but it could be another example of Purism changing the Linux hardware industry. Of course, Libiquity created ProteanOS in 2011, and Nokia created Maemo in 2005, so Purism isn’t the first Linux hardware company to create its own distro.)
The Linux laptop industry hasn’t followed Purism’s example by adding hardware kill switches, but I think that is mostly explained by the fact that Star Labs and PINE64 are the only other Linux laptop makers who do custom manufacturing and they both focus on the low-end of the market, whereas kill switches are a feature for higher-end laptops. The hardware kill DIP switches in the PinePhone, however, were inspired by the hardware kill switches on the Librem 5, so it looks like Purism is influencing the design of Linux phones.