Why is this going so slowly?
I saw the most recent update but I don't understand what the delay was. They shipped 20 machines and then suddenly, nothing, for over a month.
I know some of the delay is due to their new SMT machine but they said they had gotten the machine long ago. And the last update says it is definitely up to date so they should be able to build all the rest of the batch 2 machines in 2 weeks or so, right?
When do you think they will finally finish up batch 2? A few weeks? A month? A couple months?
I bought a pre-order off someone when it looked like shipping was imminent and I am losing more and more money every day they don't ship.
It's ironic that it looks like I am going to receive my BFL jalapenos before Avalon now.
I agree, I still don't understand the source of the delay after this update. I'm trying my best to keep faith that Yifu is a 100% legit greed-free true believer but my spidey senses are starting to tingle. Here's a summary of what we do know:
Feb 2nd batch #2 pre-sale:
- originally scheduled to start shipping by March 10th and finish before April 15th
- this means it would be ~5 weeks until the first unit shipped and it would take another ~5 weeks to finish all 600 units
- due to payment glitches the pre-sale didn't sell out until the pre-sale re-opened on Feb 18th
March 24th update:
- start of batch #2 shipping rescheduled to April 15th (~5 week delay)
- new SMT line will be online during the last week of April
April 15th update:
- batch #2 shipping has begun at a slow pace but new SMT line/crew would improve speed in "a week or so"
- "we are also [in] the process of merging many earlier problematic orders, if your order still does not show up in the store by Friday of the 19th please open another ticket"
June 10th update:
- admits they have "bitten off more than they can chew" and now blames "third-party dates" for the delays
- one of the videos shows Yifu bragging about how quickly he can source his parts
- "majority of all the parts have arrived and ready"
- "finally will have time to go over tickets, and send out those trade-in payment emails"
- "New SMT line is now fully operational as of this weekend"
Some of this doesn't add up and and there are a lot of unexplained contradictions. If I was entrusted with millions of dollars and was 100% legit in my efforts I would take the time to explain in detail what is happening every step of the way. When you are telling the absolute truth then you don't have to worry about what you say and could easily keep your customers in the loop with 30 minutes of time once a week. When things are not 100% legit then people tend to be very quiet and very vague so they don't have to keep track of their excuses/explanations. It's very hard to make bullshit add up over time as we've seen with Josh@BFL. I find it odd that Yifu chose to update us on April 15th that shipping had begun leaving us all watching for shipping notifications only to wait almost 2 months before letting us know there were additional delays with a very vague explanation that contradicts previous statements. There's a part of me that wonders if the recent spike in hash-rate isn't from a secret "batch #1.5" that they squeezed in before batch #2. I would admit it would be hard for me to resist the temptation if I was in Yifu's shoes after accepting millions in funds while the exchange rate skyrocketed. The insane BFL delays, increased exchange rate, and general lack of competition might give me the confidence to delay batch #2&3 a few months while I squeezed in my own personal batch, who knows. If so, part of me wonders if maybe he would deserve it since it's much easier to give somebody money for a pre-order than produce an ASIC miner from scratch...
Regardless, I am still grateful to be part of this dramatic chapter in bitcoin history and still expect to benefit from my choice to entrust Yifu with my precious BTC. I only hope that KNC ends up being more professional in their attempt to bring ASIC miners to market because I'm getting tired of all this fog