Unfortunately, there's precious little market data available since the players are necessarily small businesses.
Can you give us any hint of what the market looks like?
For instance, I'd love to know how many MintyBoosts have been sold.
What sells best:
- Gee-whiz flashing light, POV, Drawdio type things
- Solves-a-real-problem products (like MintyBoost)
- Hacker/hobbyist products (Arduino/Boarduino/shield)
And how have sales changed over the years?
LadyAda & Adafruit has gotten a lot of well-deserved exposure (and presumably lift) from Make, and MakerFaire and numerous speaking engagements. Now I can't overstate the value Ladyada has given back to the community by sharing her experiences; but can a guy like me hope to reproduce that success, or has Ladyada become a bit of a figurehead for DIY/OSH that just can't be recreated by an also-ran?
Anybody willing to share some data is welcome to do so...
Regards,
--incoherent