Solana Mobile: From Slow Start to Swift Surge

Solana took nearly a year to sell 20,000 units of its first crypto phone. But the second phone hit 100,000 preorders in just over a month.

Solana Mobile’s “Chapter 2” smartphone passed a key point on Monday. It had set the 100,000 preorder goal before as a must to make a second device. Now, with $45 million ready, the company plans to proceed. It hopes to deliver units to buyers in early 2025.

“There’s a minimum cost to start a new production line,” Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko said. With at least 100,000 buyers for Chapter 2 having paid $450 already, selling an affordable second device is more possible. The “brutal” numbers for Solana’s first experimental phone made that difficult. That originally sold for $1,000, he said.

Solana Crypto-Integrated Smartphones

The milestone makes the future of Solana Mobile more certain. Until recently, its future was in doubt. Then, crypto traders realized each phone came with free tokens.

That sparked a sellout of the Saga. The second phone, like the first, will have custom features. These are designed to integrate buying, selling, holding, and using cryptocurrencies into the device. Specifically those on the Solana blockchain.

“It’s tough to beat Apple and Google on specs their top smartphones have,” Yakovenko said. “That’s why we care about the crypto-specific features. We are trying to build something you can’t get on another device.” It still needs to be clarified if preorder buyers want a crypto-enabled smartphone. Or if they want Solana’s second free money maker.

But with 100,000 units now the minimum to make, Solana Mobile is closer to a critical mass of users. This is necessary to convince app developers to build games for Solana’s challenger ecosystem. Its app store does not charge the 20% to 30% Yakovenko said Apple and Google take.

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