Here is a thought but before that let me start with a disclaimer, I am not asking for refund, I want the phone.
The chip production in USA is already started or so we know since they are delivering the Made In USA phone. Now the cost of Librem 5 USA is $2000, not the chip that is made In USA. I don’t think it would be more than the $599 as the original price of Librem 5. If the made in USA chip is used to make Librem 5 then the manufacturing price would go high but won’t be as high as to plummet the profit to zero. Of course this is with an assumption that the $599 price did have high profit margin factored in.
So, there is a possible solution should Purism want to pursue by taking a hit in profit margin. This will paint a nicer picture about Purism and would help with gaining credibility around delivery and delivering capabilities.
Looks like a wrong assumption, because Purism had to increase the price to $799 (and it will be even more!):
The original price of $599 during crowdfunding campaign must definitely have some profit margin. No one starts a Crowdfunding Campaign without high profit margin for an innovative and new product. So, maybe you are right maybe I am wrong but the $599 price most definitely have high profit margin factored in,
First off, I want to start off by saying, I don’t disagree with you on principle. If Purism had the ability to manufacture a part that is otherwise faced with a 180+ day back order, I think it would be better for the company to give it a try rather than tell their already paid in full customers, sorry, you’ll get it when you get it.
Having said that, a couple of points.
(1) are we sure that Purism even makes this part in house? We know the L5USA is not 100% US parts. I was under the impression that the chip had to be sourced.
(2) they would likely go through the entire USA line first, (which should be very soon if Purism’s prediction are correct) as I’m sure many people upgraded for the allure of shorter line.
(3) would these efforts even have a significant effect on lead times for most users.
Like I said, I’m not saying your wrong, or even unreasonable. I’m like you, I just want my phone, just throwing some thoughts out there.
Based on the stillness regarding L5-USA deliveries, the odds seem close to zero that Purism’s prediction will turn out to be correct (i.e. L5-USA “shipping parity” within next couple of weeks).
It would fit with Purism’s record if they publish a blog post in about a month that says, “we had a major manufacturing obstacle for L5-USA that was completely unforeseeable, and so we haven’t been able to ship many L5-USA’s. Now we have it under control, and we will reach parity for L5-USA in about 3 months.”
1 Like
What is this “chip” of which you speak? The Librem 5 has over a thousand components.
If the chip referred to is the CPU then there is no way that Purism makes it in house, or even could. (Wouldn’t it be great though … )
2 Likes
Chocolate actually, with the ever so slight hint of mango.
2 Likes
Most crowdfunding campaigns charge a cheaper price for the people who pre-order early, and then raise the price for people who order after the product starts shipping. If Zlatan Todoric’s interview with Phoronix can be believed, the bill of materials for the Librem 5 in 2017 was expected to be $300, so that would leave $300 to pay for development, but that was based on the expectation that Purism would have the phone ready in 17 months, whereas it took 39 months before Purism started shipping Evergreen, and Purism went over budget in the development of the phone.
When Purism announced on December 16, 2019 that it would have to increase the price to $749 in 2020 and the final price to $799, it made this statement:
One way that we reward early backers for their patience is by providing an introductory “early bird” price. When you are creating a new phone from scratch, in the early phases prices are incredibly rough estimates. After all, a number of factors from volume to time to suppliers all play a part in price and it’s difficult if not impossible to know all of your final costs years in advance. So you pick an estimate on the low side to reward early backers, understanding that eventually you will have to increase to your final price.
…
We had to design the hardware from scratch and we also have to develop many drivers ourselves–everything that is not yet available as free software in upstream mainline Linux kernels.
In early 2019 as we started to get better estimates for our costs, we realized we’d need to increase the price to at least $699–at the time what we thought would be the final price. Fast forward a couple of months and those estimates turned out to be optimistic. Once we knew our final costs for the mass-produced Librem 5 Evergreen batch we realized we’d need to increase the final price to $799.
1 Like
@amosbatto Have you received your Librem 5 yet?
@buzzLightyear, Nope, not yet. I keep waiting for an email from Purism for a shipping date.
Your wish was my command!