After selling out its first crypto phone, Solana will release its highly anticipated follow-up, Seeker, next year.
Seeker is expected to feature a lighter build than its predecessor, Saga, along with an improved camera and longer battery life. It will also include advanced crypto capabilities like an integrated wallet designed to streamline crypto transactions.
“I’ve considered switching to the Solana phone, but until Seeker has a 5x to 10x improvement in UI and crypto navigation, I’m not ready to give up my iPhone,” said Joel Hugentobler, Cryptocurrency Analyst at Javelin Strategy & Research. “It’s simple and relatively inexpensive to use a web-based app like Phantom to conduct transactions on a desktop or an app. Until Solana builds out a significantly better crypto user experience, I won’t make the move.”
Airdropping Aspects
The less-than-intuitive design was one of the key reasons for Saga’s sluggish sales following its launch. It wasn’t until Solana began airdropping BONK memecoins to its phones that Saga sold out. The value of BONK tokens soared into the hundreds, often rewarding Saga users with more than they had paid for the device.
Solana has leaned into the airdropping feature in its initial marketing for the upcoming Seeker model, though it’s unclear how aggressively the company will pursue this strategy. However, Solana has said that its new phone will track token rewards more efficiently.
A Game Changer
Another main draw for Solana’s crypto phones is its independent decentralized app (dApp) store, which allows users to develop and launch apps without the fees typically associated with Apple’s and Google’s stores.
The combination of the dApp store and Seeker’s airdrop potential has prompted plenty of enthusiasm around Solana’s new offering. The company has already presold over 140,000 units, and at an asking price of $450, this could translate to $63 million in revenue.
“This plays into the decentralized physical infrastructure network narrative of decentralization,” Hugentobler said. “If they have enough sales to hold them through a few more generations, there will likely be enough penetration with decentralized Wi-Fi, GPU compute, and other areas where this type of phone could become a game changer.”
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