Compact IoT board with an antenna trace along one edge, a shielded radio module and a fine-pitch connector on a matte black solder mask

INDUSTRIES · CONSUMER ELECTRONICS & IoT

Fast prototypes, DFM feedback, and test evidence.

Prototypes in 3–7 working days, DFM feedback inside 24 hours, and the test evidence your certification lab asks for. Minimum order is set by the component package.

MARKET AND CERTIFICATION COST

Four numbers that decide a consumer launch date

892.3M Smart home units, 2024
Worldwide smart home device shipments. The market roughly a third larger by 2028.
1,108.2M Smart home units, 2028
Forecast shipments. Every one of those units needs an assembled board and a compliance file.
USD 250–450 FCC SDoC
Supplier's Declaration of Conformity for a device with no radio. An FCC ID with a radio starts at USD 850.
2025-08-01 EN 18031 mandatory
EN 18031 cybersecurity requirements became mandatory for RED-listed radio equipment on that date.

Planning a certification run around a build?

Tell us the target test window and the quantity. The prototype date is what usually sets the certification booking, not the other way round.

SPEED, THEN DFM

From your files to a board your lab can test

Consumer and IoT programmes run on weeks, not quarters. The three lead-time tiers below are all assembly lead time ex-components: the clock starts when the BOM is complete.

1–10 pcs in 3–7 working days

A prototype quantity is quoted per project rather than against a blanket minimum, because the real floor comes from the component package: chip passives 0603–2225, SOT, SOD and MELF start at 50 pcs + 30 spares, and other packages at 100 pcs + 50 spares.

10–1,000 pcs in 5–10 working days

The first production-representative build, on the production placement programme. Unit price carries a +30–40% premium at 5–20 pcs and falls to +5–15% at 101–499 pcs, because the stencil, the programme and the first article are spread over more boards.

About 3 weeks at 5,000 pcs

The 5,000-piece figure belongs to that quantity and is not a general volume lead time. Long-lead semiconductors can add 12–26 weeks (industry data), and that gap sits in front of the assembly window.

DFM feedback within 24 hours

Prototype boards get a first-pass DFM report inside a working day. Where a library footprint disagrees with the component datasheet, the datasheet land pattern wins and the pads are redrawn — the cheapest place to catch tombstoning and head-in-pillow.

WHO OWNS WHICH OBLIGATION

Three regulatory routes, and where the duty sits

The finished-device manufacturer holds the CE and FCC conformity obligation; we supply tested, documented subassemblies and support your certification testing. A populated panel is not a CE-marked product, and this page does not claim otherwise.

United States

FCC Part 15

Under 47 CFR 15.101 a peripheral device or subassembly sold to an equipment manufacturer for further manufacturing does not need its own authorisation; the manufacturer obtains the required authorisation before further sale. We do not hold an FCC authorisation on your behalf.

In practice: a board with no radio goes down the Supplier's Declaration of Conformity route, roughly USD 250–450. A board carrying a radio module needs an FCC ID from USD 850 upwards, and the antenna and shielding layout has to be settled before that test is booked.

European Union

CE RED 2014/53/EU

Products containing a radio follow the Radio Equipment Directive 2014/53/EU. EMC Directive 2014/30/EU does not itself apply to radio equipment: RED Article 1(4) removes radio equipment from the Low Voltage Directive while retaining the Article 3(1)(a) safety objective, and Article 3(1)(b) introduces the EMC requirements instead.

EN 18031 cybersecurity requirements have been mandatory since 1 August 2025 for the radio equipment categories listed under RED. EU Regulation 2019/1020 Article 4 additionally requires an economic operator established in the EU before the product is placed on the market. A contract manufacturer cannot hold CE marking; the declaration is the legal manufacturer's.

Substances and disposal

RoHS 3 · REACH · WEEE

RoHS 3 (EU 2015/863) and REACH SVHC obligations are met with a declaration of conformity and test reports, not with a certificate. Both are available on request per order, covering the materials and processes used on your assembly.

The WEEE producer is the brand owner or OEM that puts the product on the market, not the contract manufacturer. Conflict minerals are handled differently again: 3TG sourcing is disclosed through an annual CMRT, which is a smelter and refiner disclosure rather than a certification of any kind.

SMALL-BATCH COST STEPS

Where the money goes below 500 units

Cost steps for consumer and IoT builds
Item	Figure	Note
Minimum order	0603–2225 / SOT / SOD / MELF: 50 pcs + 30 spares; other packages: 100 pcs + 50 spares	Set by the component package and its reel economics. Prototype quantities are quoted per project.
Unit premium, 5–20 pcs	+30–40%	Stencil, placement programme, first article and changeover carried by very few boards.
Unit premium, 101–499 pcs	+5–15%	Identical setup, more units to absorb it.
NRE engineering fee	Commonly USD 0–150, waived on most projects	Quoted together with the build rather than as a separate line.
Stencil, programming and first article	Stencils USD 1.53–65 (framed from USD 80); IC programming USD 50–200; FAI USD 100–300	Each quoted separately so you can see what is reusable on the next revision.
Flying probe versus bed-of-nails	Flying probe below 500 boards a year; a bed-of-nails fixture pays off above 2,000 a year	Fixture NRE runs USD 2,000–10,000+ for a general fixture and USD 2,000–50,000+ for ICT. Single-board ICT test cycles run 5–30 seconds.

Consumables and tooling are listed as separate line items because a consumer programme usually revises the board two or three times before launch. A stencil cut for revision B does not survive revision C, but the fixture and the carrier generally do.

CASE EVIDENCE

A wearable prototype that reached certification on schedule

US wearable hardware startup · 4-layer double-sided mixed assembly

Twelve working days, then certification passed first time

The constraint was a certification booking that could not move. The design mixed fine-pitch devices with through-hole connectors on a 4-layer double-sided board, and the first-pass DFM report returned a land pattern that disagreed with the component datasheet.

The pads were redrawn before the stencil was cut, the board was built on the same line the volume order will use, and the assembled units went into certification testing without a re-spin.

Prototype delivery12 working days

Build type4-layer, double-sided mixed

Certification testingPassed first time

Next stepMoved directly to small batch

Anonymised: customer type, region, constraint, result.

REQUEST A QUOTE

Prototype date first, certification booking second

Send the Gerbers, a BOM with manufacturer part numbers and the target quantity. We will come back with a route, a price band and the date the boards leave Shenzhen.

Reply within one business day

Our working day is UTC+8. Radio-module programmes get an English-speaking project manager.