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lrasinentoday at 5:22 AM1 replyview on HN

EU has Aisler but what you win in shipping times you lose in production lead time (unless you pay for faster service).

And there are probably others but with even less visibility / willingness to interact with private customers. Hell, I used to live next door to a sales office for a local PCB fab, but they never bothered to answer my inquiry about prototypes.

(That's another thing the proto-friendly companies do right: instant quotes without log-in requirement)


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ipdashctoday at 8:04 AM

> but with even less visibility / willingness to interact with private customers

It's honestly depressing. I could believe the theories (off vibes, since I'm not in manufacturing, just a hobbyist) that this is one of the reasons why China is overtaking the West in hardware. Manufacturers here just don't want to talk to you at all unless you're willing to buy a million units, it seems. From what I've heard, in China, it's far easier to get started (and that certainly matches my experience with jlc/pcbway).

Like, I get it, profit wise. But it's a bit of a sad state of affairs.