We are continuing to ship Librem 5 phones to backers, and we are excited to deliver your Librem 5 as soon as we produce it. Our team around the world is working diligently from chip sourcing to continuous software improvements to produce more phones and make the experience as exceptional as we can
We will keep innovating both on our software and hardware offerings, and are hiring. We will keep you informed regularly on how we are doing with the fulfillment of your Librem 5. We will be updating this product availability chart diligently.
Deliveries will continue over the next 12 months in batches as we spot-buy some of the harder to find integrated circuits to produce additional boards, the primary parts blocker for producing tens-of-thousands at once is the CPU availability which if bought today still has 50+ week lead-time, while it may arrive earlier (the industry is very short with inaccurate lead-times) we cannot count on spot-buying entirely nor can we count on parts arriving early in abundance. The ongoing supply for semiconductor shortage is intensifying. It is great to see some of you who ordered the phone early are sharing the news about getting the Librem 5. While deliveries are continuing, it will be directly tied to parts availability.
Advancing all the areas that we are improving to create a free and secure future takes immense investment, time, and patience; we thank you for seeing the value we bring (in software, services, and hardware) and being as patient as possible in the hardware delivery during these unprecedented times. Here are two recent customer messages we received that means a lot to our entire team:
“All the best for the last mile to start mass-production and shipping again. And thanks so much for the incredible innovation you brought about.”
“Just wanted to say thank you for not giving up. I’m still excitedly anticipating the Librem 5, am glad I backed the campaign, and I will wait as long as it takes.”
Thank you for advancing Purism SPC’s mission of a freer and more secure future.
Enough is enough. I’ve been waiting for over 4 years now. I stopped counting the number of (delayed) delays. And still I am waiting, not canceling my order. This gets more and more hilarious.
I just got that email too. And I’m confused. Does that mean we’ll have to wait at least another year to get our devices? Well, another year for them to receive some parts, probably even longer to actually receive the devices? Even after the email last month, indicating devices started to ship again? Are backorders actually happening? At what speed?
From September email:
“We can finally calculate your delivery date more accurately since we have fully funded every single component in the bill-of-materials for mass production with varying lead-times, avoiding the risk of new supply shortages from Just In Time production.”
Today’s email does not tell me the above, and throws more questions that answers into the mix.
Another delay is frustrating. By the time we receive the phones, they’ll be so outdated hardware wise that the minimum they could is starting upgrading components for the rest of us.
Recently there was a round of public funding, seeing this news after knowing that they got 3 times the money they set as a goal is infuriating.
Yes, I got this email too, but on the same day as my shipment email (October 1). It was quite confusing in that context, but comforting for you, perhaps, as it seems to have gone out to everyone that hadn’t received a phone yet, even if they are about to get one. @antpanlinux, your shipping date is only two days after mine, so if they have any to ship, yours should be on its way soon. I know we were very close when they stopped shipping in May.
Good for you, ecs! But it is not even close to what was promised in the earlier mail.
I was convinced this time around I was going to receive a reasonably accurate, reasonably narrow - and personalized - estimate of the delivery date. I am pretty sure I am not alone in this.
Instead I am - yet again - left feeling had.
Yeah, I’m not defending Purism in this case – like most things Purism (so far), I have been impressed with the responsiveness and competence (if not the promptness) of Tech Support, and the overall quality/integrity of their products, but consistently baffled by their communications. I’m not saying you have no right to be pissed, but really, what’s the point? Someone there has decided that they’re ignoring that damn elephant in the room, even if the elephant is standing on their foot. I really hope they get it straightened out…
That being said, for you to feel “had” you must think someone is pulling a fast one on you, and I just don’t think that’s the case. I feel like they’re more like the acquaintance we all have that can’t say “no” and is always commiting to things they don’t end up having time to do and ghosting you as a result.
Same. I got that mail, found it very confusing, as I actually should be among the next ~100 to receive the phone. So, I think (supported by @ecs’ experience) there are two messages:
If you order now (or have recently), it will likely take about a year (except the market unexpectedly goes back to normal)
shipping continues as long as we have parts
Now, the question is a bit whether this message complements or contradicts the previous message (that somehow I didn’t receive), where it said
“we have fully funded every single component in the bill-of-materials for mass production with varying lead-times”
“currently have a good handle on procurement and quantities for the next six-months”
It’s really unfortunate that they are somehow unable to write in clear English whether all original backers should receive their devices before xmas, or something like that.
But yeah, there’s some hope that those waiting 4 years now will not have to wait a full year. But how can it be so hard to express that?
Not only that, but in many specs, from the camera to the RAM, it is almost the exact same as my current OnePlus One… from 2014. In which, this very forum is a quite slow on as I write this and the editor keeps glitching out because it is too heavy. Whether on mobile or desktop, I am always running out of RAM, and I wish they would at the very least have a bit more than 3GB. Linux is light, but many applications I may want to run (mostly web browsers and communication platforms) are not, and for these RAM is usually the major limitation.
Agreed. In this day and age, I don’t think anything less than 4GB should be considered (efficiency in Linux aside). Maybe that’s just me because of my tab overload in FF/Chromium.
These specs would have been ‘okay’ if the L5 was released on schedule, but now I fear I’m going to have a sluggish phone on day 1. Sure, the caveat is a lesser-powered and more secure phone, but that argument can only go so far after 4 years. I digress, as this is now off-topic…
I only pre-ordered in 2019, so I’ve all but given up on getting the L5 before 2023. The recent email was not a confidence builder…
We went from:
“We can finally calculate your delivery date more accurately since we have fully funded every single component in the bill-of-materials for mass production with varying lead-times, avoiding the risk of new supply shortages from Just In Time production.”
And a solemn promise of a personal email with “a firm delivery date”.
To:
“Deliveries will continue over the next 12 months in batches as we spot-buy some of the harder to find integrated circuits to produce additional boards, the primary parts blocker for producing tens-of-thousands at once is the CPU availability which if bought today still has 50+ week lead-time, while it may arrive earlier (the industry is very short with inaccurate lead-times) we cannot count on spot-buying entirely nor can we count on parts arriving early in abundance.”
In a generic, rather than “seperate”’ email, lacking any firmness, and certainly a date - calculated or otherwise (unless “50+ weeks” from now, counts as one).
The fact that I am being targeted with marketingspeak, is what annoys me.I wouldn’t say I feel con’ed. But misled, sure. Somewhat, at least.
Not for the first time, Purism dangled an unrealistic optimismic carrot in front of my face, and managed to revive my interest in the L5. I was convinced somebody was actually calculating my very own delivery date (or at least a pretty narrow window). Now I am left anxiously guessing whether it could really be possible I still have to spend the best part of 2022 waiting for the bl**dy thing.
Please explain the relationship between In Stock and delivery considering when I ordered my Librem 14 on 1 May its status was In Stock and Lead Time was 8 weeks yet I’m still waiting for delivery 20+ weeks later?
Just wanted to share my latest email today concerning posted topic. My order was placed on the 13th of Oct. Response I got from:
Mladen Pejaković
Support Manager
Purism SPC
"We understand the delay on the Librem 5 has been longer than expected. We are making efforts to improve our communication. We will be sending a monthly update to ALL backers explaining the bigger picture that affects their delivery. The first one is being sent as we speak. Additionally, individual emails are being sent to those batches that are awaiting shipping or are closer to delivery. Your pre-order has been schedule to be shipped within several weeks, so you can expect the pre-shipment email soon.
Also received this email, and I’m just as confused, really. Could someone from Purism clarify if this is the delivery date email we were supposed to get end of September, or it’s just a general email to everyone?
I don’t mind if it wasn’t possible to provide an actual delivery estimate in time for some reason, but then I’d have appreciated at least some sentence like “sorry we still can’t give a precise delivery date, it’s because of reason X, we’ll have news for you as soon as possible.”
Edit: ah, thanks @Whe3zy for posting that email, that seems much better. My order is 10 days after yours, so let’s hope it will also be shipped only 10 days after yours (yes, I’m aware it doesn’t work like that )
)