I hear that in China they have a lot of franken-PCs reusing recycled chips because they have all the PCB-level design and manufacturing expertise but they can't make chips. They'll take a GPU off its graphics card and solder it onto a laptop, or the reverse, stuff like that. And each design in low quantities based on what models of e-waste they can get. Pine is one of that kind of company although not nearly as extreme. A lot of their plastic cases are repurposed from other devices. The A64 chip is designed to go in set-top boxes. They don't do low-hundred quantities based on e-waste, obviously, they are set up for mass production but they're still using whatever parts they can get their hands on that are surplus to other companies' requirements. That's half the reason they discontinued so many products.

I did this with GrapheneOS and a simple launcher. That said, it's not something the average person will ever want to, or maybe even be capable to, do. They want to just pay someone money and get a product that respects them.

If this does that, then it will be well received by the people who care enough to spend money on it. I'll actually be buying one when it launches. My custom solution is "fine"... It's also a pain in my behind.

The entire point of a "dumb" phone like this is to reduce the amount of attention it requires from me. Managing some custom ROM and keeping it up to date actually requires MORE attention in some ways. I kind of hate it even after a year or two of constant tinkering to make it fit me "just right". I'd rather have something that respects me out of the box and spend a little time adapting to it.