> Those companies will basically sell them to anyone willing to place a volume order
If that were all, you'd see these parts resold through distributors, just like you do for other components like transistors or DRAM or audio codecs. But you don't -- the manufacturers place restrictions on how these parts can be used, and those restrictions typically forbid their resale.
(As an aside, the same is also true of many Intel and AMD CPUs. Some parts are sold to consumers, but many others -- including non-socketed CPUs and motherboard chipsets -- are only sold directly to manufacturers, typically under restrictive terms.)
> an individual can get one of their CPUs on a single board computer
I've never seen one. There's plenty of SBCs built around ARM SoCs which are available on the open market, like Allwinnner or Rockchip, but, as far as I'm aware, Samsung and Qualcomm only sell parts to manufacturers intending to use them in end-user products.
If that were all, you'd see these parts resold through distributors, just like you do for other components like transistors or DRAM or audio codecs. But you don't -- the manufacturers place restrictions on how these parts can be used, and those restrictions typically forbid their resale.
(As an aside, the same is also true of many Intel and AMD CPUs. Some parts are sold to consumers, but many others -- including non-socketed CPUs and motherboard chipsets -- are only sold directly to manufacturers, typically under restrictive terms.)
> an individual can get one of their CPUs on a single board computer
I've never seen one. There's plenty of SBCs built around ARM SoCs which are available on the open market, like Allwinnner or Rockchip, but, as far as I'm aware, Samsung and Qualcomm only sell parts to manufacturers intending to use them in end-user products.