Well, no. There are plenty of factories and firms out there. They only might have different conditions, qualities, minimum order quantities, prices, working conditions, … you name it. We actively have to look for a supplier that matches our criteria. We have done this. For several years. Say, we have found one now:
Keep in mind that producing isn’t the only part in the process. The second considerable effort goes into testing and certifying these batteries. This all costs time in which more and more FP1 users decide to abandon their devices because something breaks, they are fed up, they are concerned with the security levelof their outdated OS, … What is a “reasonable range” is thus not only determined through the price a customer had to pay for a piece of battery to still keep the company it sells profitable. At this point, “reasonable range” also for us means the quantity we reasonably can support ordering without having huge storage cost or simply producing waste (which, especially for hazardous pieces like batteries means quite some ecological footprint), etc. “Reasonable range” is a very dynamically changing and unstable concept, especially when we are talking low numbers as with FP1 battery demand. Finally, the longer it takes, the more likely it is that “reasonable range” of battery supply falls far below the minimum order quantity of a supplier.
Best,
Daniel