Demand for the Chapter 2 is seemingly so excessive, Solana Mobile hit its seven-day gross sales purpose inside the first 24 hours, Raj Gokal, co-founder of Solana and president of Solana Labs, solely informed Ztoog.
In the primary 24 hours after the phone was introduced, Solana Mobile noticed over 25,000 preorders, and by the 30-hour mark, it had 30,000 preorders, Gokal stated. At these numbers, this new system has already eclipsed 12 months’ price of gross sales of Solana’s first handset, Saga.
The new phone could have comparable options as its predecessor: It’s primarily based on Android, has a built-in crypto pockets, a Seed Vault and a “dApp store” for decentralized crypto purposes. It is initially being provided at $450, lower than the $599 the Saga is offered for. Chapter 2 will ship within the first half of 2025, a Solana spokesperson stated.
“For developers, Solana Mobile is creating a massive opportunity for crypto app teams looking to incentivize their users,” Gokal stated. “It gives them a concentrated distribution channel to die-hard, dedicated users. It allows them to do this without any prohibitive app store fees.”
Gokal added that the system represents what’s potential with crypto, offering worth in incentivizing apps to customers.
Saga’s climb
Solana’s first smartphone didn’t see a lot demand when it was first launched in mid-2023 for $1,000. But the corporate quickly lowered the value to $599 in mild of weak demand. YouTuber Marques Brownlee even referred to as Saga the “worst new phone of 2023” and stated it was a “bust.”
Initially, it appeared the lackluster gross sales had been as a result of the phone went unnoticed within the crowded smartphone market. But the crypto-savvy crowd’s ears perked up when dog-focused memecoin BONK’s decentralized software (dApp) introduced that it was offering 30 million BONK tokens to Saga house owners for free. The Saga then offered out nearly in a single day.
At the time, 30 million BONK tokens had been price greater than the price of the phone, so customers principally received the system (or the tokens, relying on the way you take a look at it) for free. Before then, Saga house owners obtained different crypto rewards, just like the mint for the Claynosaurz NFT assortment, however these promotions didn’t garner as a lot consideration. Following the BONK hype, although, different dApps started providing comparable rewards, which resulted in much more folks wanting to purchase the phone to get their palms on its provided worth.
“As the market rebounded in Q4 of last year, the Saga sold out, with the large majority of those sales taking place over just two days in December,” Gokal stated. “Since then, we’ve been inundated daily with thousands of requests for more.”
Now Solana is hoping to re-create the identical magic with Chapter 2. The Saga genesis token, the non-transferrable NFT that got here with each Saga and helped house owners redeem rewards, won’t be out there to house owners of the brand new units, however the firm plans on “building on this experience in Chapter 2,” in line with its FAQ.
“Giving back to the community has a snowball effect: As more developers start releasing crypto-incentivized apps to Solana Mobile users, we’ll see even greater adoption,” Gokal stated. The Chapter 2 has launched with sponsors, together with Backpack, Tensor, Phantom, Solflare, Magic Eden and Drip, which plan to reward house owners, he added.
“Chapter 2 is focused on wider distribution, greater accessibility, and uses learnings from the last two years to enable greater flexibility for developers and users,” Gokal stated.
The new system has “been in the works” for over a yr, Gokal stated, as the corporate wished to present “complete freedom for crypto developers and users,” by having no restrictions on tokens or NFTs, and no prohibitive charges.