Could The Cases Have Been Manufactured In The West?

[smcc]

Craig has mentioned that he would have much rather used a manufacturer in the UK or other Western country for the cases. (See here)

Given the amount of hassle that we've had from the factory in China (including lies, as Craig said), I wonder whether it would have been a good idea to pay the extra cost and get a good, honest job.

It would be interesting if Craig could estimate how much it would have added to the end-cost of each Pandora unit to have used a Western manufacturer. If it was up to something in the region of an extra £20 - £30 and we were assured that it was solely to pay for the cost difference in manufacturing then I'm sure a lot of people would have been happy to pay.
It would have saved months of tweaks and revisions, would have helped what's left of Western manufacturing and would have been a good PR exercise for the team.

Even if it's not feasible for the 10,000+ units that OP hope to sell in the end, it could have been an "early adopters premium edition", with the same technical hardware, but just a higher cost case and fewer delays.

Does anyone else have an opinion on this?

 

[elwing]

Craig has mentioned that he would have much rather used a manufacturer in the UK or other Western country for the cases. (See here)

Given the amount of hassle that we've had from the factory in China (including lies, as Craig said), I wonder whether it would have been a good idea to pay the extra cost and get a good, honest job.

It would be interesting if Craig could estimate how much it would have added to the end-cost of each Pandora unit to have used a Western manufacturer. If it was up to something in the region of an extra £20 - £30 and we were assured that it was solely to pay for the cost difference in manufacturing then I'm sure a lot of people would have been happy to pay.
It would have saved months of tweaks and revisions, would have helped what's left of Western manufacturing and would have been a good PR exercise for the team.

Even if it's not feasible for the 10,000+ units that OP hope to sell in the end, it could have been an "early adopters premium edition", with the same technical hardware, but just a higher cost case and fewer delays.

Does anyone else have an opinion on this?

from what I recall the case cost around 100'000$ in china VS 1'000'000$ somewhere else since they sold 3000 preorder at 330$ it was just not possible for them...

 

[smcc]

Craig has mentioned that he would have much rather used a manufacturer in the UK or other Western country for the cases. (See here)

Given the amount of hassle that we've had from the factory in China (including lies, as Craig said), I wonder whether it would have been a good idea to pay the extra cost and get a good, honest job.

It would be interesting if Craig could estimate how much it would have added to the end-cost of each Pandora unit to have used a Western manufacturer. If it was up to something in the region of an extra £20 - £30 and we were assured that it was solely to pay for the cost difference in manufacturing then I'm sure a lot of people would have been happy to pay.
It would have saved months of tweaks and revisions, would have helped what's left of Western manufacturing and would have been a good PR exercise for the team.

Even if it's not feasible for the 10,000+ units that OP hope to sell in the end, it could have been an "early adopters premium edition", with the same technical hardware, but just a higher cost case and fewer delays.

Does anyone else have an opinion on this?

from what I recall the case cost around 100'000$ in china VS 1'000'000$ somewhere else since they sold 3000 preorder at 330$ it was just not possible for them...

Hmm, thanks for that. So for the 10,000 cases that comes out as $10/case from the Chinese factory versus $100/case elsewhere?

That is indeed a big difference, especially when ramped up even to the modest initial batch volumes. $100 for a single case just sounds like an insane amount, though. I'm sure that once the machines are tooled up and running, the cost per bit of moulded plastic itself isn't very much. Maybe a deal could have been reached to cover the up-front costs of getting the templates ready (which is understandably expensive, as it involves people's time), and then a more reasonable price per unit.

 

[craigix]

We did get quotes and they would have been hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The ICP, which we have made in the UK, is costing more than the Pandora case an it is a far more simple device.

 

[SNESFAN]

We did get quotes and they would have been hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The ICP, which we have made in the UK, is costing more than the Pandora case an it is a far more simple device.

Is that company going to let you keep the molds? If so would that cut down on the cost of future cases some?

 

[Pleng]

We did get quotes and they would have been hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The ICP, which we have made in the UK, is costing more than the Pandora case an it is a far more simple device.

So what's changed?

 

[Sofox]

I really, really hate backseat directing-handheld-gaming-device-production but would it have been possible to bargain down any of the UK case producers? I don't know whether "Quotes" are "Prices" or "Initial offer".

But I'm clearly off the point, the original quotes were obviously used for quick comparison to show that China was cheaper. If production does get moved to the UK, those quotes will most likely be given a more critical eye by Craig and Co, hopefully finding discounts.

 

[craigix]

We did get quotes and they would have been hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The ICP, which we have made in the UK, is costing more than the Pandora case an it is a far more simple device.

So what's changed?

Because we have the moulds now.

 

[Pleng]

You're not even able to get China to ship the cases. You honestly think they'll send you the moulds?

And don't recite the terms of the contract to me. It's worth nothing. You will never see those moulds.

 

[craigix]

You're not even able to get China to ship the cases. You honestly think they'll send you the moulds?

And don't recite the terms of the contract to me. It's worth nothing. You will never see those moulds.

Fatih's company has got the moulds from them before, many times.

 

[fusion_power]

You're not even able to get China to ship the cases. You honestly think they'll send you the moulds?

And don't recite the terms of the contract to me. It's worth nothing. You will never see those moulds.

Yupp, I also think they will never send the moulds, at last not in one piece :lol:
OR these moulds just don't fit in european machines.

But because the moulds were the most expencive thing onto that I guess it should be not too expencive to produce the Cases with the existing moulds here in Europe, UK or Germany, the Companies are not THAT expencive, I've seen some good Small-series Companies even here in Germany.
Yes, to make moulds here you have to pay a fortune but mass production of just the cases should be much cheaper (I hope).

 

[EvilDragon]

Yep, the expensive part is creating the moulds.
Fatih is already looking for different companies which can make the cases in the future.

We WILL make them ship the cases, no worries. Until now, they shipped everything we wanted - just later than they said.
It's the same this time. We've seen pictures of the cases, what use would it be for them to keep them?

 

[hobbyman II]

We've seen pictures of the cases, what use would it be for them to keep them?

they be for the Piratdora, yarr!!

swash me buckles and shiver me hornpipe andora2ut4:

just kidding :rolleyes:

 

[paulguy]

Jesus, no wonder the western economy is going to shit, they've charged themselves out of business. Good job. :/

 

[Sphinxter]

You're not even able to get China to ship the cases. You honestly think they'll send you the moulds?

And don't recite the terms of the contract to me. It's worth nothing. You will never see those moulds.

Yupp, I also think they will never send the moulds, at last not in one piece :lol:
OR these moulds just don't fit in european machines.

But because the moulds were the most expencive thing onto that I guess it should be not too expencive to produce the Cases with the existing moulds here in Europe, UK or Germany, the Companies are not THAT expencive, I've seen some good Small-series Companies even here in Germany.
Yes, to make moulds here you have to pay a fortune but mass production of just the cases should be much cheaper (I hope).

Should not have to worry about fit, the machinery there are all european clones.

 

[Sphinxter]

Jesus, no wonder the western economy is going to shit, they've charged themselves out of business. Good job. :/

Lucky for us not everyone is willing to let their project be delayed for two months repeatedly. Think it would have been worth a little more to have those right the first time in Dec. 2008?

 

[MDave]

You're not even able to get China to ship the cases. You honestly think they'll send you the moulds?

And don't recite the terms of the contract to me. It's worth nothing. You will never see those moulds.

Fatih's company has got the moulds from them before, many times.

Yep, the expensive part is creating the moulds.
Fatih is already looking for different companies which can make the cases in the future.

We WILL make them ship the cases, no worries. Until now, they shipped everything we wanted - just later than they said.
It's the same this time. We've seen pictures of the cases, what use would it be for them to keep them?

How long will the moulds last until you need new ones made? I hear they don't last very long.

 

[EvilDragon]

You're not even able to get China to ship the cases. You honestly think they'll send you the moulds?

And don't recite the terms of the contract to me. It's worth nothing. You will never see those moulds.

Fatih's company has got the moulds from them before, many times.

Yep, the expensive part is creating the moulds.
Fatih is already looking for different companies which can make the cases in the future.

We WILL make them ship the cases, no worries. Until now, they shipped everything we wanted - just later than they said.
It's the same this time. We've seen pictures of the cases, what use would it be for them to keep them?

How long will the moulds last until you need new ones made? I hear they don't last very long.

They do. I once said they are only useful for 10.000 cases, but that was a misunderstanding on my site.
Aluminium ones (cheaper to produce, even outside China) only last for 10.000. The ones we have are hard metal (AFAIK) and endure A LOT more cases.

 

[craigix]

It's 100,000 to 1 million.

I doubt we will sell that many Pandoras.

 

[matzesu]

It's 100,000 to 1 million.

I doubt we will sell that many Pandoras.

How many time do you need to assemble 1Million Pandoras in the old Townhall in Newcastle upon Tyne???

I hope the faktory in texas is enable to speed theyre produktion up because 500 Boards in one week is not enought for 1Million Pandoras... :rolleyes: