Hey everyone,

I’m a member of the ArmSoM team. First of all, I truly want to thank you for clicking into this page and even considering supporting us. To be completely honest, seeing the number of backers so far has left us with mixed feelings, but more than anything, it made us feel we should step up and have an open conversation with you.

We’ve heard clearly that many of you feel the price is on the higher side and we totally get that. That’s why we want to be fully transparent with you about where things stand.

The price you see isn’t just about the board itself. There’s a lot more behind it.

Due to changes in global logistics and trade conditions over recent years, tariffs for shipping to many countries—especially the U.S.—have increased significantly, now somewhere between 40% to 50%. This was something we hadn’t fully anticipated and it’s a hard cost we simply can’t avoid.

On top of that, we’re only planning an initial small-batch production of 100 units. With numbers like these, the costs of components, PCB assembly, testing, and worldwide shipping are simply harder to spread out. So we know, the current price isn’t cheap.

But here’s our commitment: if we can get through this phase together, and if more people see value in what we’re building, we will be able scale up. And with larger scale, costs will come down. When that happens, we’ll be able to offer the AIM7 at a much more accessible price for everyone who comes after.

We’re also aware that NVIDIA recently launched the Jetson Orin Nano—with 40 TOPS of performance and a similar price point. That’s been, well, a very real blow for us.

Truth be told, this product has been quite a journey from idea to reality. There were delays along the way, shifting trade policies, other projects taking up bandwidth, and we didn’t expect to launch right when the Orin Nano entered the scene. It’s been a tough moment.

But we’ve decided to move forward anyway.

Not because we think we can easily “beat” anyone, but because what we wanted to create from the very beginning was never just another high-performance board.

What we really hope to offer is a platform that’s truly open, transparent, and made for learning and remixing. You’ll have access to the full schematics, carrier board design files, and all the code; it’s not just a tool, it’s an open book. And that’s something most commercial products won’t give you.

If you choose to support us at this stage, you’re not just backing a product, you’re supporting something deeper:

• You’re supporting a small team that’s trying to stay open and sharing, even in a space dominated by giants;
• You’re saying yes to the idea of real transparency, the ability to truly modify and adapt your hardware;
• You’re helping us through the hardest phase—the “cold start”—giving us a chance to reach the next stage, where we can offer more affordable versions for more people.

We know not everyone will resonate with this kind of mission and that’s okay.

But if you also believe the world needs more choices, more efforts that are open and community-minded, then your support, whether by backing us, spreading the word, or even just saying “keep going” means more to us than you might think.

Thank you for reading.

With sincerity,
The ArmSoM Team