Production cost of Optimus keyboard expected to be well above $1000

Chicago (IL) - The developers of the forthcoming Color OLED keyboard Optimus 103 are facing higher development and production costs than what was generally estimated. In a recent posting on the Optimus blog, Art Lebedev wrote that finding displays small enough for a key turned out to be a challenge and will get much more expensive than anticipated.

Each of the 103 displays rings in at about $10, pushing the cost of displays above the $1000 mark. Analysts previously estimated the cost of one OLED key at about $1. The company also mentioned that it has to invest about $100,000 in tooling cost to produce the display, which is expected to be available in Spring in sample numbers.

Development of the product apparently is still underway, as the company continues to announce frequent changes to the Optimus 103. Most recently, the firm said that it will integrate an ambient light sensor that will allow the brightness of the displays to be automatically adjusted.