demand for Chapter 2 is clearly going very nicely, with Solana Cell hitting its seven-day gross sales purpose inside the first 24 hours, Raj Gokal, co-founder of Solana and president of Solana Labs, completely tells currencyjournals. instructed.
Gokal stated Solana Cell had greater than 25,000 pre-orders within the first 24 hours after the cellphone was introduced, and 30,000 within the first 30 hours. these numbers, this new machine has already surpassed his 12 months price of gross sales for Solana's first cellphone, Saga.
The brand new cell phone has comparable options as its predecessor. It's Android-based and has a built-in cryptocurrency pockets. seed storage and a “dApp retailer” for decentralized crypto functions. The unique value was $450, which is cheaper than Saga's retail value of $599. Based on a Solana spokesperson, Chapter 2 is anticipated to ship within the first half of 2025.
“For builders, Solana Cell creates an enormous alternative for crypto app groups that need to incentivize their customers,” Gokal stated. “This provides us a centered distribution channel to our most engaged and engaged customers. This permits us to do that with out exorbitant app retailer charges.”
Gokal added that the machine represents what is feasible with cryptocurrencies and gives worth to encourage customers to make use of the app.
Climbing Saga
Solana's first smartphone didn't see a lot demand when it first launched in mid-2023 for $1,000. Nonetheless, the corporate shortly lowered the worth to $599 in mild of weak demand. YouTuber Marques Brownlee known as Saga “the worst new machine of 2023” and even known as it a “failure.”
Initially, the lackluster gross sales gave the impression to be because of the cellphone not gaining traction within the crowded smartphone market. However the crypto-savvy crowd's ears perked up when the dog-focused meme coin BONK's decentralized software (dApp) introduced it could give Saga house owners 30 million BONK tokens without spending a dime. . Saga then bought out nearly in a single day.
On the time, 30 million BONK tokens had been price greater than the worth of the cellphone, so customers had been basically getting the machine (or token, relying on the way you have a look at it) without spending a dime. Till then, Saga house owners had obtained different crypto rewards, equivalent to a mint for the Cranosaurus NFT assortment, however these promotions didn't garner as a lot consideration. However with the hype round BONK, different dApps began providing comparable perks, which made much more folks need to purchase a cellphone to get the worth they’d on provide.
“When the market recovered within the fourth quarter of final yr, Saga bought out, with most of these gross sales occurring in simply two days in December,” Gokal stated. “Since then, we’ve got been receiving 1000’s of further requests on daily basis.”
Now, Solana hopes to recreate the identical magic in Chapter 2. The Saga Genesis Token, a non-transferable NFT that comes with each Saga and helps house owners redeem rewards, won’t be out there to new machine house owners, however the firm plans to take action, based on an FAQ. Constructing on this expertise is mentioned in Chapter 2.
“Giving again to the group has a snowball impact. As extra builders begin releasing crypto-incentivized apps to Solana Cell customers, we are going to see much more adoption,” stated Gokal. I’m. He added that Chapter 2 will probably be launched with sponsors equivalent to Backpack, Tensor, Phantom, Solflare, Magic Eden and Drip to reward house owners.
“Chapter 2 focuses on broader distribution and accessibility enhancements, leveraging the learnings of the previous two years to extend flexibility for builders and customers,” Gokal stated.
Gokal stated the corporate needs to present “full freedom to cryptocurrency builders and customers” by putting no restrictions on tokens or NFTs and never charging exorbitant charges, and the brand new machine will final for one yr. As acknowledged above, it’s “underneath improvement.”
