Android Game Stick to be delayed

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The Kickstarter marketing campaign for the $79 GameStick Android console has out preformed expectations and in response backers have been notified that they will not be seeing their units until late June. GameStick was expecting to manufacture 1000 units for its release roll out but was forced to take a step back and reevaluate its manufacturing and shipping strategies based on the initial orders that totaled over 5000 units.

The issue that is complicating the Game Stick console release is directly related to where the consoles are being made and the fact that the Game Stick has gone far over budget in its realization. With the Game Stick being manufactured in Germany and China Kickstarter now faces the dilemma of transportation. With the Game Stick project purse almost empty, the Game Stick will be forced to ship via ocean freight instead of air. The increase in ordered units dramatically increases the weight, which in turn increases the overall cost for premium air freight shipping and Kickstarter simply cannot afford it.

A 2 month delay could under the right circumstances be catastrophic for a company with a slated product release date. Fortunately for Kickstarter this delay was brought about due to the Game Stick concept popularity and marketing success. It is also fortunately that the GameStick’s new, late June; expected arrival will not interfere with its potential holiday sales. Apparently Kickstarter is not unaccustomed to dealing with delays because it was reported on CNN Money Revealed in December of last year that out of 50 projects they only shipped 8 on time.

Those of us who have already put down the $79 for their Game Stick console will unarguably be annoyed by this development. Kickstarter’s claim that they “are not a store” does little to assuage our disappointed release expectations. There is a silver lining to this however, because now the question of the Game Stick’s popularity has been answered and we can rest assured that the GameStick will indeed be a hot item upon its eventual release.

Source- The Verge