The ADzero bamboo smartphone project has been put on indefinite hold, its co-founder Jerry Lao has revealed.
Lao had been working on the project alongside British product designer Kieron-Scott but the project ran into difficulties when it was rejected by crowd funding platform KickStarter in December. There were also production problems associated with the bamboo design which were never successfully overcome.
Now Lao is going it alone with a new project – an Android device powered by a quad-core Samsung processor which he says outperforms the Galaxy S3 and will cost under $299 unlocked.
AdZero Co-Founders Kieron-Scott and Jerry Lao.
He said: “The ADzero has been put on indefinite hold and Kieron has moved on to do bigger and better things at his own design firm.
“I have started a new project with our OEM (original equipment manufacturer) to build something amazing.
“I am putting the final touches on a beautiful quad-band, quad-core (Samsung Exynos 4412 chip) smartphone with 4.5in HD display, 16GB of storage, and a comparatively superior 8mp camera than the iPhone 5, running stock Android…and priced at a small fraction of the price of leading brands.
“The product is near-market ready, but needs consumer support to help with final manufacturing costs, so we have launched the experiment on Indiegogo.”
The project he is talking about is the Sion V1SION which aims to make a high-end but affordable smartphone, where costs are kept down, not by reducing specifications, but by taking lower profit margins.
A production-ready prototype has been made and the team now want to raise $300,000 to bring the phone to market. The money would be used for:
- FCC certifications
- manufacturing costs and
- customer support
The Indiegogo crowd-funding page says: “Smartphones shouldn’t be expensive. These big companies are taking advantage of consumers all around the world by taking a huge margin on these phones.
“We want the world to know that there are better and more affordable options for smartphones. The more people that support us and use the V1SION, the cheaper and better we can make our phones.
“We embarked on a journey to disrupt the smartphone industry by providing consumers with an unlocked, high-end and low-cost smartphone.
“We were able to cram as much high-tech goodies into our beautifully designed smartphone as the “big brands”, but we’re pricing it at a fraction of their prices.”
And the specifications of the device certainly do look impressive.
Specs
- Region: US Only (for now)
- Size: 134 x 68 x 11.8mm
- Display: 4.5 inch LCD, 720×1280 HD resolution
- CPU: Samsung Quadcore (Exynos 4412)
- Memory: 16GB internal, 1GB RAM
- Network: HSPA+/WCDMA (850/900/1900/2100 MHz), GSM (850/900/1800/1900MHz)
- OS: Stock Android ICS with planned upgrade to Jellybean
- Camera: 8.0MP autofocus and back-illuminated rear-facing, 0.3MP front-facing
- Battery: 2050mAh
The Sion V1SION features a sleek unibody shell made in the same electroplating process used on the Samsung Galaxy SIII while the imposing 4.5 inch screen uses Gorilla Glass for extra toughness. The phone also boasts a 720P HD display at 326 pixels per inch (same as iPhone 5′s Retina display). The V1SION will be running stock Android ICS, with a planned update to Jellybean.
The ViSION team said: “In developing the Sion V1SION, not only did we pay close attention to aesthetic detail, but more importantly, to end-user quality.
“We chose to work with one of the largest global electronics manufacturers to ensure lasting product quality. Our manufacturer has an extensive list of global technology customers including Toshiba, HP, and Apple.”
Ringflash
A unique feature of the phone is ring flash technology for more even light distribution when using flash.
The project team said: “We are also introducing ring flash technology, commonly found in the photography industry, built directly into our phone.
“Ring flash allows for better distribution of light relative to the camera sensor compared to traditional phone flashes, which deliver light from a single direction.
“Aside from pure practicality, the ring flash also looks awesome. It gives the design symmetry and makes a bold and unique statement.”
Pricing Experiment
The Sion ViSION team say they want to price the phone based on demand…the more people who want to buy it then the cheaper it will be because they will pass on savings in manufacturing costs for larger production runs to the end user, rather than keep the price the same and bank the extra profits from additional units sold:
As our manufacturing cost per unit falls due to increased demand and scale, we will incrementally lower the retail price of the phone.
501-1500 units: $349
1501-3000 units: $329
3001-5000 units: $309
5001-10,000 units: $299
>10,000 units: TBA (Once we approach 10,000 units, we will renegotiate prices with our manufacturer and suppliers for a better price.)
Sion ViSION’s Jerry Lao says the V1SION outperforms leading phones and tablets for a fraction of their prices and provides the following test scores:
The aim is to launch the product in the US and expand to other countries once they can afford to do so.
Lao said he is convinced that the popularity of unlocked devices in China will also be the future of the Western market because “it gives consumers the flexibility to switch carriers and plans on the whim without violating any contract terms.”
Obviously the major barrier is that, traditionally, unlocked high-end smartphones are very expensive.
Lao added: “Many people value features and functionalities over brand value, but most high-end devices in the US are only offered as “premium” products with a premium price tag.
“As a small startup, we are flexible with our business model. We have very little overhead, and do not need to sell many devices to break even. We can also maintain razor thin margins, and not be criticized by public shareholders.
“By using crowdfunding, we are essentially letting our consumers know that we are just a small startup. If they are interested in seeing more high-end, affordable devices in the future, they should come support our project.
“Of course, we have to reiterate, we have the full support of our ODM on R&D, so while we are a small startup, we can provide the same level of quality as other major brands.”
Conclusion:
I like this project a lot and I think it really does have the potential to empower consumers to be able to begin to demand high-end smartphones at a fraction of the prices which are currently being charged now.
It is common sense that the more of a product you make, the lower the unit cost becomes. Therefore if you have a fixed price business model – the industry standard – then the manufacturers’ profit margins are increasing as the demand for the product increases.
As Lao says: “We want our consumers to also share in the effects of economies of scale. Our prices are dynamic, based on our current production cost.”
I think customers would also love the idea of sharing in the effects of economies of scale and if we could move to a market where high end phones don’t have to break the bank then everyone would be a winner.
Personally I hate the idea of being tied into a contract for 24 months (or more). Doesn’t it make more sense to be free to swap and change new devices come along? It does to me.
The current Indiegogo campaign will be an early indication of whether such a price strategy can work for Sion ViSION, and if it does, perhaps established mainstream manufacturers might consider following suit.
To see the Sion ViSION campaign then click on the image below:
