Solana blockchain has made an impressive comeback in 2023 after escaping the FTX collapse. Along with the price increase of SOL token and Solana ecosystem, we are also witnessing a new trend in the market: physical products sold with huge benefits, specifically Sagaphone - the first Web3 phone in the crypto market.
Sagaphone was introduced by Solana in May 2023 but did not stand out in the Android smartphone market, its price has been reduced from 1000 USD to 599 USD in August 2023. Even, Sagaphone was being crowned the "worst phone of 2023" by tech reviewer Marques Brownlee. I myself don't want to own a smartphone like Sagaphone, it looks worse than the old iPhone I'm using.
However, the memecoin BONK created the plot twist. 30M BONK tokens airdropped to Sagaphone owners, worth ~1K USD, helped increase demand for Sagaphone. A Sagaphone with 30M BONK not yet received was resold for 5K USD on eBay, which is crazy because the buyer could have used 5K USD to buy 160M BONK at the current price. Maybe he expects other airdrops from new projects in the Solana ecosystem in the future
[1].
After Sagaphone's success, Solana's $450 Chapter 2 Smartphone has ignited a pre-order frenzy: 25K preorders in the initial 24 hours and within a mere 30 hours of its announcement, Chapter 2's 30K preorders eclipsed the entire first-year sales of its predecessor , the Saga
[2]. I'm starting to think that the Solana dev team wants to focus on making money from selling smartphones and issuing memecoins rather than improving network stability.
The Web3 phone wave is not just limited to Solana: Aptos, a Layer 1 blockchain, partnered with Jambo Technology to launch a new $99 Web3 smartphone designed specifically for emerging markets in February 2024
[3]. Yesterday, March 11, Ninety Eight, the creator of the Coin98 DeFi ecosystem, did the same when it introduced the $99 JamboPhone for the Asian market
[4].
These cheap Web3 phones will probably come pre-installed with applications from blockchain/crypto projects to help users access Web3 more seamlessly, but I doubt their hardware quality. I don't have faith in a smartphone that costs less than 100 USD.
The market has developed, Blockchain-phones have become Web3-phones. I still remember the Electroneum project that allowed users to mine ETN tokens right on their smartphones
[5], or Samsung Galaxy S10 supported blockchain wallets for users
[6], they were really a big step forward for blockchain technology to ordinary users. Today, when everyone owns a smartphone and can easily install popular crypto wallet applications like MetaMask, Trust, SafePal..., Web3-phones are not very valuable. They are just cheap smartphones that have pre-installed a few crypto applications (I think users can completely install them themselves) or contain NFTs with the ability to receive many valuable airdrops in the future.
I am not ready to buy any Web3 phones myself. I already have enough crypto wallet apps on my trusty old iPhone to interact and use Dapps effectively. I also believe that the security of Apple's iPhone is better than that of cheap Web3 phones from lesser-known phone brands.
I would like to know your opinion on the Web3-phones trend:
- Are you willing to buy Web3-phones?
- Will Web3-phones become a trend for other blockchains to follow?
- Are Web3-phones really necessary for the crypto/blockchain market?
References:[1]
Solana Saga Phone Labeled ‘Failure of 2023’ Despite Surge in Demand[2]
Solana’s Chapter 2 Smartphone Breaks Saga’s Annual Sales Records in Hours[3]
Aptos to Launch Smartphone to Boost Web3 Access in Emerging Markets[4]
Coin98 Super Wallet Pre-installed on JamboPhone, Fostering Web3 Adoption Across Asia[5]
Electroneum Mining: How to mine ETN in 2023[6]
The Best Blockchain Phones to Consider in 2022
Note:- My opinion was posted first in that topic, on Bitcointalk
- I leave the source link to avoid plagiarism accusation.
- I excluded/ included minor things from an original thread if necessary.