Reservations for Solana's second smartphone exceed 100,000 ─ $45 million secured for development costs | CoinDesk JAPAN

• Solana Mobile is working on its second smartphone after reaching 100,000 pre-orders ($45 million in sales) in just one month.
• The second smartphone, like the first, will be equipped with custom features designed to integrate the buying, selling, holding, and use of crypto assets.

It took Solana Mobile nearly a year to sell out 20,000 units of its first crypto-enabled smartphone. However, the number of pre-orders for the second smartphone reached 100,000 in just one month.

Clear the conditions for proceeding with development

Solana Mobile's second smartphone crossed an important number on the 12th. The company had previously set a goal of 100,000 pre-orders as a prerequisite for developing its second smartphone. The company currently has operating funds of $45 million (approximately 6.75 billion yen, equivalent to 150 yen to the dollar) and plans to proceed with manufacturing and, if possible, deliver it to customers in early 2025.

“There is a minimum cost to get a new line up and running,” Solana blockchain co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko said in an interview with CoinDesk. With at least 100,000 customers already paying $450 each for a second smartphone, the economics for selling an affordable second smartphone, initially priced at $1,000, are strong. He said it was more viable than the “brutal” numbers of the first experimental smartphone.

By achieving this goal, Solana Mobile's future has been solidified. The company is so far the only crypto-enabled smartphone maker with a customer base that pays for the device and is expected to use it in the future. Its fate was in doubt until last year, when the first batch of smartphones sold out after crypto traders realized that owning a smartphone meant they could receive an airdrop of tokens.

Emphasis on features specific to crypto assets

The second smartphone, like the first, has custom features designed to integrate the buying, selling, holding and use of crypto assets, specifically those on the Solana blockchain, into the device's core functionality. .

Yakovenko commented that it is really difficult to beat Apple and Google in terms of technical specifications such as the cameras that their major smartphones boast. “That's why we're so focused on features that are unique to crypto assets. We're trying to build something that no other device can do.”

Plus for game development

It is not yet clear whether those who pre-ordered are interested in actually owning a crypto-enabled smartphone, or simply in the possibility of receiving an airdrop for owning it.

However, with 100,000 units now in production, Solana Mobile has developed an app to develop games that Yakovenko believes are essential to Solana's Challenger ecosystem (which Yakovenko believes is essential to mainstream success). The company is approaching what Yakovenko considers the critical mass of users needed to encourage people to use it. He said the company's app store doesn't collect the 20% to 30% commission that Apple and Google charge app store sellers.

“It's easier to disrupt an app store than Visa or Mastercard,” Yakovenko said.

｜Translation and editing: Rinan Hayashi
｜Image: Shutterstock
｜Original text: Solana's Second Phone Crosses 100,000 Presales, Securing $45M for Development