We have absolutely no interest in targeting the mass market with a budget-friendly or downsized version of our machine . Given that Decent has already doubled in size every single year, our focus remains on managing sustainable growth rather than maximizing production volume. Dropping prices would artificially inflate demand, forcing a scale of operation that conflicts with our current boutique identity.
Because the DE1 is a handmade device, increasing production volume presents a difficult choice between two undesirable paths: scaling up internal staff to massive numbers or outsourcing manufacturing. Expanding the factory to that level would make the company less enjoyable for the founders to manage, while outsourcing to third parties would introduce major uncertainties regarding overall build quality. To protect both operational joy and strict quality standards, Decent purposefully avoids the mass-production loop.
Decent maintains a higher profit margin per machine specifically to fund continuous technical innovation and compete for elite engineering talent. By contrast, many traditional mass-market espresso brands rely heavily on shared, off-the-shelf components from 1961 because their tight economic margins do not reward the high financial risk of debugging new hardware and funding custom molds. A premium price point allows Decent to pay market-rate salaries to top-tier international engineers living in highly expensive tech hubs.