Was wondering the same thing my man, thanks!
Dear
@Hopper Labs Can you share what exactly has changed there at hopper labs, to bring about new hope?
One question please, do you still anticipate HBC units to be released “sometime in 2019”? Beyond the hopper and PFE (& batteries), it’s the accessory I would be most interested in. Has HL considered having PVC wraps made for when the customers stuck with glossy wraps need them (they inevitably crack and peel)? For a custom sized $14 battery that is sold solely by you, that seems like something to consider down the road, for your loyal customers.
Well, to your first question, what has changed, short answer, a lot in some ways little in others. I could probably fill a book on the history of Hopper Labs just so far, but here is a quick overview for context.
We had the crowdfunding campaign, delivery was very delayed, but we did eventually deliver. The first 1k units had tons of problems; we fixed those problems and kept shipping. We build and sold many thousands of units that were pretty good. In late 2017, the sub-manufacturer (a US company) that was making the heater of the device for us decided to switch materials for unconfirmed reasons, but we firmly believe this was for cost savings on their side. They guaranteed it would be the same; it was in initial testing; it was not in the real world.
These units started to fail at a startling rate, 2-6 months after delivery. Not only were there thousands of units already delivered, but there were also thousands more being produced. We immediately took drastic action canceling out contracts with the company, and long story short started making the heater in-house. The process is extremely specialized and not something we were experts in. It took time to get it right, 8 or 9 months to get high yields and ramp up production. We had to lay off almost all of our staff and a large backlog of warranty began to build.
This was very unpopular with customers for a good reason. We had our heads down to the noise because, first and foremost, we needed to solve the problem. It was an all-out effort for more than half a year, and along the way, we honestly did not have good answers. There were setbacks, and it was challenging with such a short staff to manage everything and make progress.
In an effort to keep this short, we did it, producing our in-house version of the heating tech. This has allowed us to make it even better than before, more robust, more reliable, more powerful. We have been working non-stop on warranty backlog but of course also selling new units as we must do this to continue operations. Communication has not always been our strongest suit; maybe the classic "were engineers" is true.
So what hasn't changed?
1. We are still a small team working to build flower vapes that are on the cutting edge.
2. We still are committed to offering a lifetime warranty even though it has cost us from a business perspective.
3. We are motivated and committed to making the products better, and finishing some that were delayed by the above events.
What has changed?
1. We know more, we have more experience, and we have more in-house capability to make operation/development/design go more smoothly.
2. We have a much smaller team but are doing more.
3. The Grasshopper is better than it has ever been.
4. We are making more significant efforts to share what has happened so people can understand and make their judgments.
5. We are getting close on catching up on warranty (though still some distance to go)
We are working on getting the HBC out by the end of the year. It is not clear yet if we are going to make it or not. I can provide a more detailed update on it in a few weeks after we hear back on manufacturing timelines. For those with orders for this, we are sorry that it was sidelined by the problems with the heater and warranty.
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