My last week has been spent mostly trying to squeeze money out of our potentiometer knob. The one we had been using - a Kilo product - has terrible pricing, even at quantity ($2.38 @ 2000 units). So I remodeled the part and started poking around.
I got a bunch of quotes from some US machine shops I know that are closer to the $2 range. I also got a quote from Taiwan for about $.50 apiece (though I'll expect additional shipping/customs costs).
Then, I put the part on MFG.com. At quantities of 2000, this should hit a good spot for a lot of US mill-turn shops - and so far the response has been pretty good. I'll let the quoting period run for a while still, but I expect to pay no more than $1 for these parts, and that's including clear anodizing and possibly shipping to NY.
Meanwhile, Andy has been researching FM IC pricing; Zach has been looking into batteries and tactile switches; and Eden has been poking around at PCBA shops.
My next focus will be on the lid and the speaker. The former is in a pretty good place right now, but the speaker wants some real love... updates soon.