New production schedule, and unfortunately - further delay

We are truly sorry to announce that due to the circumstances which we will further cover in detail in this update, we have to postpone the release date of Mudita Pure. We understand the frustration which may arise after you read this title, however, we would like to ask you to read the update in its entirety, as we’ve tried to explain everything that’s essential to understanding the situation. At the same time, we would like to assure you that we are continuing to put forth the maximum effort every day in order to deliver the high-quality device that we promised.

We feel horrible having to ask for your patience once again, instead of sharing good news with you. However, Mudita Pure is our first hardware product and we feel obligated to deliver it with the best possible quality for everybody (including our families, friends, Backers & supporters) who trusted us from day one. This recent setback has been an important lesson for us. There are still elements of the molding forms which we’re not satisfied with, therefore we had to make a tough decision to push the launch of Mudita Pure by several months. Below, we will share with you a detailed explanation of the problem and our plan for implementing the appropriate corrections before the production phase.

From the very beginning, we had a very ambitious goal of keeping the whole production of Mudita Pure in Europe. Another goal was to develop a phone that is waterproof, which, in case of phones with a physical keyboard, is a serious challenge. During the pre-production journey, we’ve encountered a number of complications which forced us to reevaluate some of our initial expectations, which sometimes turned out to be too ambitious. 

We were aware that the mobile phone manufacturing industry practically vanished from the EU, however, we were determined to bring it back. This turned out to be much more complicated than we initially thought. We made the decision to produce the molding forms in Poland, with a very experienced manufacturer, working in the automotive industry. Despite their expertise and highly qualified staff, it turned out that some of the elements might be too complex and too detailed to be produced by the local partner in the estimated timeframe. We’ve described the issue with the problematic molding form, in detail, in one of the previous updates - you can read ithere.

After identifying the problem in October, together with the manufacturer, we’ve prepared a plan for correcting the flaw, which involved several rounds of corrections and trials. We’ve made considerable progress, however the problem remains unresolved.

That’s why, we’ve decided to develop two parallel solutions, in order to minimize the risk of further delay.

1. We’ll continue to work on correcting the molding form with our current partner, though we need to revise the requirements and remove a gasket from the case design. This means that we’ll need to change the previous IP54 standard to a lower one - most likely IP30 or IP42. However, this detail will be confirmed during the final certification. The IP standard is used to define the levels of sealing effectiveness of electrical enclosures. An IP30 means that the device is protected from solid foreign objects greater than 2.5 millimeters but not protected from moisture or liquids. IP42 means that a device is protected from intrusion of solid foreign objects greater than 1 millimetre, and also from falling drops of water, if the case is positioned up to 15 degrees from vertical.

The choice between the desired standard and minimising the risk of further production complications has been a difficult, but a necessary one.

2. At the same time, we are working on a backup option. We started discussions with another tooling company which can potentially help us deliver the molding form, in line with our original expectations (rubber gasket & IP54). This producer is based in China and was recommended to us by several companies as a reliable partner, who also ensures high standards of manufacturing. The whole assembly process would still be happening in Europe.

The main lesson we learned from this experience is that since the majority of production resources have moved to Asia (we were aware of this fact, however, the scale of the shift is what really took us by surprise), manufacturing certain highly specialized electronic equipment in the EU may be very difficult. This means it takes more time, and can cost much more to achieve the desired level of quality. This doesn't mean that we are giving up on our dream of having local production here, in the EU. Having a fully local production is still our no. 1 objective, one which we are fiercely fighting for right now. However, it means that in the future, we will need to precisely evaluate the feasibility of production in the EU for each element, on a  case-by-case basis. And sometimes, like in case of the mentioned molding form, it will require the outsourcing of the manufacturing phase to places where there is strong expertise. We hope that once our experience and product portfolio grows, we will have more expertise to make this happen locally, in a much smoother way. 

What needs to be done and when?

Below please find a simplified timeline of the critical elements before we start the mass production. This timeline should give you an idea how much time is required in the process and what needs to be done. Please note that the timeline includes some buffer time, so internally we hope that we’ll be able to ship sooner than November, however, we don’t want to overpromise. 

Mudita Pure - timeline

After updating the whole roadmap and adding some buffer time for unexpected issues - we expect to ship Mudita Pure, at the latest in November this year.

We realize that this is not the information which you were hoping to hear. We understand that you’ve been waiting for your phones for a long time. When we began to create a complex piece of hardware, we embarked on a very challenging journey. We’re extremely grateful that you’ve supported us and encouraged us at every hurdle, and we sincerely hope you stay onboard as we cross the finish line together. 

If you’d prefer to ask for a refund at this point - we completely understand. You can contact us at support@mudita.com and our team will be happy to assist you with the refund or answer any questions.

Update on the US carriers

There is a second issue that we’d like to share with you in this update. During the certification process we’ve encountered complications regarding two carriers which operate in the USA: AT&T and Verizon.

Our goal is to provide you with a phone with ultralow SAR value and global coverage. This required us to engineer a solution with a custom-developed antenna. We’re really happy with the current Head SAR results, which show 0,08 W/kg. However, this doesn’t allow us to receive a PTCRB certification required by some carriers.  

As Mudita Pure is optimized for low SAR, it doesn’t meet all of the PTCRB test parameters. Making modifications to reach the required parameters required by AT&T and Verizon would necessitate compromising on the SAR level. We’ll have the FCC certification which will allow us to sell Mudita Pure in the USA, ISED in Canada, and CE for the European market.

According to our internal tests, these parameters do not influence the reception quality. Right now, we have 60 fully functional phones in our office. We’ve been testing them in Poland for a while with good results and we’re beginning to test the reception outside of Poland. We are continuing discussions with AT&T and Verizon in hopes of finding a solution, however at the moment we cannot guarantee that Mudita Pure will work with SIM cards from these carriers. The current alternative is to use our phone on the T-Mobile network in the US. Mudita Pure will work while roaming, so if you’re e.g. from Europe and travel to the US, your phone will log into one of the local networks, including Verizon & AT&T. 

We understand if you are unable to change your provider. You can contact us at support@mudita.com to talk about available solutions or to request for a refund. 

The good news

Although we encounter these obstacles, we all strongly believe in this project and we’re determined to constantly move forward. After months spent in the lockdown, we realize how the current situation is only intensifying the demand for more technologically-balanced solutions. We’ve sometimes been overly ambitious, however we do want to deliver this product to you in the highest possible quality. 

We have an amazingly talented team who is currently testing Mudita Pure. Apart from these latest complications, the prototypes are fully functional and we can already experience using our phones in everyday life. We’ve had great progress in terms of the operating system and Mudita Center - we would like to share with you the current state of the development. 

Video 1: Going through Mudita Pure menu and different functionalities. Please note that the screens reflect the current status of the development, as we're constantly improving the OS and the UI based on the tests and feedback.

Video 2: The phone automatically connects to the desktop application and is demonstrating one of the use cases of Mudita Center - adding a new contact via the app.

The team dedicated to Mudita Pure is motivated and focused solely on our most important goal: delivering Mudita Pure as soon as possible, without compromising on the quality. 

At the same time, other teams, who are not so involved in Mudita Pure development anymore, are able to dedicate their time and knowledge to conceptualizing and developing other hardware and software products. Some of them are already quite advanced and we’ll be happy to share more with you soon.

It’s not easy for us to come to you with the news about these new complications. Although we still need to put in some additional work, we can already see the light at the end of the tunnel and it motivates us to keep working even harder to see this project across the finish line. Thank you for your continued support and encouragement, which we constantly receive from you via emails, social media, and on our forum. We need it now, more than ever! :) 

If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch with us via email (support@mudita.com) or our forum, where our team is happy to address all possible questions, comments, and concerns.