Dear all
I think, if you have enough money, say 750K$ still we have got very limited chance to win the battle! You are trying the same mistake again! (Like big companies) try to Think out of box!
Let me explain more� we have giant companies like Ti,freescale,Samsung,etc� if you plan for the lowest performance ASIC you will lose, cause we can already buy supper cheap SOC from these giants, for example you can buy MCIMX280DVM4B @ 5.6$ in 100 qty and that includes a lot of peripherals like 2 Ethernet , 2 USB and 5 usarts encryption engines etc�. And it also include power management chip! So your low tech SOC is just a looser from the beginning! The chip comes with Linux, wince and android with low cost tools!
If you plan for the higher end SOC you still got not any chance, again see for yourself MCIMX535DVV1C it�s priced at 18.85$ @100 qty, I know it�s high but the higher soc have a laptop like performance and it has a 1GHZ cortex A8 processor, 2D and 3D accelerators and a whole lot of things that you never need all of them! It also include Linux and android for free and you can buy wince 7 source code for 500$.At high end products the processor chip price does not count like the low tech parts!

In other to win the battle you should have the required weapons, And I know ways that you can win the battle!
Here are my privileges.
My biggest privilege is that I Live in Iran, I cannot have an access to any sort of credit card, so I cannot donate a cent to the project! My donation would be my suggestions�
I�m a guy who has been worked with all kind of processors from different vendors like Ti,freescale,Atmel,NXP,microchip, and ST. and a little with Nios and TSK3000.I cannot code verilog or VHD like you, but I have a lot of experience with MUC�s. I�m a one man company who should do all sort of things like Capturing schematics, Doing PCB, Assembling SMD parts, Coding the MCU and coding the PC software, and finding the parts! So I know every weak point of the process!
I have been limited in my whole life, I could not get IC�s like you, I know ways that we can win the battle with our bare hands�.like how we capture the US UAV�with our bare hands!!!
I wanna play! So let me in your engineering team! Surely with my suggestions we can win the battle�In other to win we should consider everything�like package�peripherals�software tools and more�
My suggestions should be kept private too the team until we fabricate the SOC. Then we will release the Detailed Specs.If you are interested please contact me!

Dear Ali,
Thanks for all your valued suggestion..I was planning to go for upgrading platform from my present 8bit 8051 :-( to 16/32bit..for varied customized peripheral requirements, I was looking for options here.. But you are right, 5-20$ chips with so many peripherals, and stable and proven CPU cores are preferred choice for people like me..Also my need is never beyond 100-500 or so per product..
Looking forward to connect with you on Linked-In or some other platform. :-)
Myself is also a one-many-army catering to very few friendly clients.
Have a Great Time, Always..