Dear backers,
Starting out a new production, as a new project, as a new company & with a new supplier is quite a challenge. Now, let’s imagine that supplier is oversea, in a foreign language, and the cherry on top they are in pandemic lockdown for years so we can’t even work closely with them.
That’s our situation. These lockdowns are tremendously hurting us.
We tried doing a remote pre-production with phone calls & video feeds. Things can move forward but very slowly. You can send them detailed explanations of exactly what to do but they still will mess up at some point so the delays are excruciating.
Sylvain projected he could assemble 50 units in 3 months but could only get 10 pairs to work properly (more on that below). However, Sylvain did acquire significant experience on how to properly assemble future pairs without breaking them. That could make the process 2x faster? Yet, this is way too slow and they are fragile – it’s glued and not with a factory sonic welding. It’s extremely hard working under these conditions.
Making matters worst, China is still in lockdowns for many regions and there are supply issues all around.
Considering the above, we asked the backers’ committee (35 members) to vote on what Phazon should do next. Three detailed options were presented, here’s the summary:
1. Pursue the project
2. Provide a similar pair of earbuds in terms of design and functionalities
3. Refund with what could be refunded
This is the result of their votes:
After the poll, we reached out individually by email and phone to some members to gather additional insights and they said that the option which presented the best interest for the project was option 2.
The committee has spoken and we will abide by it.
Working pairs
As mentioned in the intro, Sylvain managed to secure only 10 pairs out of the 50 pairs he projected to do. The circuits are breaking a lot and the extremely small components on our dense flexible board are making this whole at-home assembly very problematic and time-consuming.
He took pictures of the whole process and even made a 16-page document on how to correctly assemble the earbuds in case the committee voted to pursue the project as is.
You can view by yourself the pictures and the earbud assembly document right here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/19shhrTLRqLx_9qBglbB4NExRrcurW5eK?usp=sharing
We recorded the procedure on how to pair the earbuds, you can check it out here:
We know it’s definitely not the outcome we all wanted. We reiterate we feel terribly embarrassed and ashamed of the situation and the delays that occurred.
What’s next?
In the coming weeks, we will ship the pre-production units to the backers and continue working with the wireless earbuds manufacturer to get our very own custom solution on point. More details will soon be provided. We will require the backers to update their address and color selection at the appropriate time.
We understand all the frustration that went through these delays and we are appreciative of your understanding.
Phazon team