We’re really excited to make this announcement. On March 29th, it will be exactly one year since the launch of the Tundra Tracker Kickstarter campaign!
The past year feels both like the longest ever, as well as, the shortest time. We laughed, we cried, we worked endless hours. As a result of everyone’s dedication and work, the team has delivered over 11,000 trackers to our Kickstarter backers and are within reach of completing the Kickstarter campaign.
We are especially proud in this accomplishment because it feels that everything in the world has been working against us during this. Factory shutdowns, shipping shutdowns, electricity shutdowns, etc. It was with a lot of drama and uncertainty but everyone has persevered, especially the backers!
We would like to deeply thank everyone for their patience, encouragement and believing in us!
Semiconductor Shortages 😭
One of the problems that existed throughout the campaign and has unfortunately worsened, is the semiconductor shortage. To put things into context, on April 14th 2021, just as the Kickstarter campaign was taking off, we speculatively placed large orders for the components we thought would be required for this general sale.
After 46 weeks of waiting, we still have not received delivery of these components. The vendors are not even able to provide a firm commitment for delivery! This is unfortunately all too common for most small to medium companies today.
It is especially frustrating because we still see the likes of Facebook/Meta shipping millions and Apple shipping tens of millions of products this year. These products utilize some of the exact same components as Tundra Tracker. Yet we received literally zero parts.
Alas, this is how the industry has always worked and there isn’t much that we can do to change it. Our vendors have been sympathetic but frankly they have fallen short of delivering much of anything. We continue to ping them weekly expressing our dire need for components.
Our Mitigations 💡
Despite the headwinds, we do see a path to maintain some production. It isn’t the scenario that any of us would want, but it is a path forward. This path is based on two things:
- Limited supplies
- We will need to cautiously restrict the number of units sold to make sure that we can deliver in a timely manner.
- Additional Cost
- For two critical components, it is possible to purchase on a secondary "broker" market. These parts are sold at a high price, typically 4-5 times their normal price.
- We will be increasing the price of Tundra Tracker to ensure that there is enough budget to secure components at higher cost.
We really wish that neither of these tactics were necessary, but in the spirit of being transparent, this is what is needed in 2022 to deliver product to you and that is our number one priority!
We need to give you legs in VR!!
New Bundling 🎁
In the process of delivering the Kickstarter, we learned a lot about product bundling. What options are most popular and how to gain efficiency in logistics and operations. In this process we discovered that:
- Ala-carte options where customers can customize their bundles creates a lot of fulfillment efficiency problems due to the permutations.
- x5 Bundles are not as popular as x3 and x7
- Current EVA Zipper Cases are rather large and cause high logistics cost due to “volumetric weight”
- 50/50 split on how customers prefer straps and baseplates (strap loop vs threaded base)
- In some uses cases, SW7 Dongles have presented issues. These come both as heat management issues as well as RF congestion.
For these reasons, Tundra Labs is proposing a shift in bundling to the following bundling scheme.
x3 Bundle - $360
- Three Tundra Trackers with Threaded Base installed by default
- Zippered Carrying Case
- One SW3 Dongle
- Three USB Type-C cables
- One USB Type-A Extension Cable
x4 Bundle - $480
- Four Tundra Trackers with Threaded Base installed by default
- Zippered Carrying Case
- One SW4 Dongle
- Four USB Type-C cables
- One USB Type-A Extension Cable
Individual Dongles:
- SW3 Dongle - $60
- SW4 Dongle - $80
Moving forward, to give customers more choice in strap selection, straps will be sold separately. This new scheme also allows customers to select their desired strap option or use existing straps.
Basic Strap + Strap Loop Base - $6 per item
- Coded based on size: 35cm, 65cm, 100cm (new), 150cm
- Each strap includes a Strap Loop Baseplate
Premium EOZ Straps:
- Belt - $25
- Foot Strap P{air (S, M, L) - $25
- Knee Strap Pair - $25
- Wrist Strap Pair - $25
- x3 Bundle - $40
More Options Coming!
- We're working on a number of ideas in the category of Straps and accessories.
- We've identified many needs and uses cases that we wish to cover with additional products!
- No new information to share with you right now, but will be announced in the coming months.
Release Times ⏰
- On a 4 - 6 week interval, we will be releasing a limited number of Tundra Tracker bundles and cables across regions.
- The first "drop" will begin on March 10th, 2022
- There will be four staggered release times to service certain regions
- UPS shipping costs will be calculated and applied at checkout
- Customers will place their orders, paid in full on release including shipping
- We will do everything in our ability to ship orders to customers about 6 weeks after purchase
- Production continues to be subject to things like COVID shutdowns and supply chain congestion. We will manage to the best of our ability as we have throughout the Kickstarter.
March 10th, 2022:
- Release on tundra-labs.com at 12:00 JST for purchase in Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand
- Release on tundra-labs.com at 12:00 CST for purchase in United States, Canada, Rest of World (not including European Continent)
- N7R will be coordinating a WeChat Release sale for China
March 15th, 2022 (Tentative):
- Release on UnboundVR.eu for purchase in Europe (including United Kingdom)