Just looking on Digikey, the unit price for a 5mm LED is somewhere between 3 and 4 cents. In that price there's distributor markup, transport, supply chain markup, the cost of the components and the cost of labour. I'm not too familiar with the economics of electronic components, but I'd be very surprised if the manufacturer sees more than 30% of the final price.
That would mean the manufacturer would be spending half the cost of the finished product on a single step of the manufacturing process. I'd be surprised if that's economically viable.
That would mean the manufacturer would be spending half the cost of the finished product on a single step of the manufacturing process. I'd be surprised if that's economically viable.