Solana Mobile said in a 12th of February announcing that it has received 100,000 pre-orders for its upcoming mobile device “Chapter 2”.
The company said those 100,000 pre-orders happened in less than 30 days, noting that this number means the early pre-order price ($450) will end within 48 hours. Solana Mobile website adds that the product should ship in the first half of 2025 now that this milestone has been passed.
Solana previously sold 20,000 Saga smartphones, and of that total, 15,000 were sold in one day. The company reported “overwhelming demand” for the product 21st of December, causing it to deplete its global inventory around that time. The company also described an inventory management issue that caused it to cancel orders beyond the number it could fulfill.
This increase in demand came after disappointing initial sales. As of December 6, the company had sold only 2,500 devices, prompting Solana to reconsider the mobile market.
The latest offering could mean a change in strategy. While Solana’s original Saga device was a smartphone, Solana Mobile’s website does not confirm that the latest device is a phone under the FAQ item “Is Chapter 2 a phone?” Rather, it only indicates that the device is mobile.
Past sales largely driven by BONK memecoin
Solana Mobile has provided little explanation for the high sales in December. The website states: “It wasn’t our fault; it was the Solana developers who made this possible.”
However, the earlier demand was widely attributed to a price surge that boosted the value of the Solana-based memecoin BONK. Each Saga smartphone included rights to claim BONK in an airdrop. At its peak on December 15, 2023, the 30 million BONK that could be claimed from each phone was worth around $985, while Solana’s Saga phone cost just $599.
While it’s unclear whether Solana’s Chapter 2 device will be as profitable based on fortuitous market conditions, Solana Mobile says users will benefit from rewards programs.
Rewards sponsors include NFT marketplaces Magic Eden, DRIP, and Tensor. Others include the Solana wallets Solflare and Phantom, the NFT wallet Backpack and DEX Jupiter. Individuals can earn rewards through referral links and Chapter 2 pre-order tokens.