Demand for the Chapter 2 is outwardly so excessive, Solana Cellular hit its 7-day gross sales objective throughout the first 24 hours, Raj Gokal, co-founder of Solana and president of Solana Labs, completely instructed TechCrunch.

Within the first 24 hours after the telephone was introduced, Solana Cellular noticed over 25,000 preorders, and by the 30-hour mark, it had 30,000 preorders, Gokal mentioned. At these numbers, this new gadget has already eclipsed 12 months price of gross sales of Solana’s first handset, Saga.

The brand new telephone 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 retailer” for decentralized crypto purposes. It’s initially being supplied at $450, lower than the $599 the Saga is offered for. Chapter 2 will ship within the first half of 2025, a Solana spokesperson mentioned.

“For builders, Solana Cellular is creating a large alternative for crypto app groups trying to incentivize their customers,” Gokal mentioned. “It offers them a concentrated distribution channel to die-hard, devoted customers. It permits them to do that with none prohibitive app retailer charges.”

Gokal added that the gadget represents what’s attainable 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. However the firm quickly lowered the value all the way down to $599 in gentle of weak demand. YouTuber Marques Brownlee even referred to as Saga the “Worst New Cellphone of 2023” and mentioned it was a “bust.”

Initially, it appeared the lackluster gross sales have been as a result of the telephone went unnoticed within the crowded smartphone market. However 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 without spending a dime. The Saga then offered out virtually in a single day.

On the time, 30 million BONK tokens have been price greater than the price of the telephone, so customers mainly acquired the gadget (or the tokens, relying on the way you take a look at it) without spending a dime. Earlier than then, Saga house owners acquired 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 individuals wanting to purchase the telephone to get their palms on its supplied worth.

“Because the market rebounded in This autumn of final 12 months, the Saga offered out, with the massive majority of these gross sales going down over simply two days in December,” Gokal mentioned. “Since then, we’ve been inundated each day with 1000’s of requests for extra.”

Now, Solana is hoping to recreate 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 obtainable to house owners of the brand new gadgets, however the firm plans on “constructing on this expertise in Chapter 2,” in keeping with its FAQ.

“Giving again to the group has a snowball impact: As extra builders begin releasing crypto-incentivized apps to Solana Cellular customers, we’ll see even higher adoption,” Gokal mentioned. 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 targeted on wider distribution, higher accessibility, and makes use of learnings from the final two years to allow higher flexibility for builders and customers,” Gokal mentioned.

The brand new gadget has “been within the works” for over a 12 months, Gokal mentioned, as the corporate needed to present “full freedom for crypto builders and customers,” by having no restrictions on tokens or NFTs, and no prohibitive charges.