Open source hardware for telephony

Imagine a line of 5 chips, each with increasing functionality. Because chip #3 was used in a consumer device last year, it suddenly becomes cheaper than all of it's siblings. On the other hand, chip #4 is being used in a cell phone right now, so the entire supply vanishes for a few months, and you can't buy it at any price.

Also, many things could be implemented many ways. So a smart engineer can redesign something to be 50% cheaper. Not by using the cheapest parts, by coming up with 20 different designs and pricing them all out. (And the relative prices of a design can vary based on the quantity. Some things get cheaper in quantity faster than others.)

It's as if your compiler charged you for using certain letters. And the prices of the letters changed monthly.