You can absolutely bet on that, dependent on the manufacturer you use. Big ones won't accept orders below a minimum treshold (the lowest I'm aware of are 4.000 units). Another factor is the timeslot. They may put you in in times of low orders but if, say Foxconn, receives a big order from the likes of Apple, you're in the waiting line. If something delays your project your timeslot is gone which in turn may lead to parts no more available or being more expensive which can endanger your project. In other words: It's really no good idea to deliver a product three years late as your whole financing may have gone down the drain. If you supported indie hardware as I did like Open Pandora (Micro PC/Console), Ouya (Android Console), Jolla Tablet... you should know what I mean.

What about the T-SHIRT. 5000 as well?

I think you are. To secure production + a timeslot with a manufacturer a campaign starter has to set up a minimum production run, let's say something about at least 4.000-5.000 units. Agreements probably conclude that this production run + timeslot is secured if the crowdfunding campaign meets its financial goals. Not really sure what happens if it doesn't other than both will be available to another client of the manufacturing company. Also keep in mind that crowdfunding campaign starters are a rather unusual type of client for, let's say a chinese/taiwanese manufacturing company. The vast majority will be commercial customers.

I assume that his personal/his company's investment is defined by the minimum production run required, not the other way round. In other words: You have to put a certain minimum amount of money in to start things going. My guess is he secured a deal with 5.000 units. Now if you take a look at the units ordered so far we may land by 1.500 units at the end of the campaign. So that would mean roughly 3.500 units left for testing/reviews, warranty cases + the lion's share for after-campaign sales as indicated by Michael Du (Indiegogo campaign starter). That means assessing the demand BEFORE the campaign launch. And I'm pretty sure he doesn't expect to sell 5.000 units during the campaign. IF orders boost miraculously Chen could initiate a second production run but this makes no sense whatsoever before the first batch is sold out.

I trust that Chen + his team did a thorough analysis of the potential of this project beforehand. They won't gamble + they are much more professional + aware of the financial side than the people at Jolla ever were. On a sidenote: it was Marc Dillon who won me over when I saw one video of this incredible energetic young man. Despite his crippled arm he was so vibrant, full of energy that i instantly decided to order my Jolla Phone. Note: I had no intention do so before i saw that vid. Consequently, I had lost all hope in Jolla when he went offboard.

How could he? Success has been in no way guaranteed: Too many people could have been put off by Jolla's handling of their Tablet project. It was in no way guaranteed that his street credibility would be sufficient to counter that. I, for one, have never heard of him before this campaign ever (although I think he might be somehow related to Mrs. Chen/Cybette, the former PR spokeswoman/community manager of Jolla...) But his persistence begins to bear fruit; also there are many testimonials of the good quality of work he delivered so far.

Now to the second point: This could backfire. If as a campaign starter I have to meet a certain goal I would not neccessarily communicate every detail to the crowd. You can do that if you've at least reached 50% (better 75%) of your funding goal. If you do that right from the start you might kill off your own campaign. No more epic fail than that, don't you think? Imagine for a moment that after 10 days of the campaign Chen would have been at 25% of his funding goal. This alone would have killed the campaign off. Who in his right mind would believe he could raise 75% of the amount in the remaining 5 days? Only hardcore supporters would chip in at the last moment. Secondly, if backers became aware that he would have to reach 5.000 units to be ordered they would believe he could never make it. Thirdly, as a fixed funding campaign - all or nothing - it would have been dead once more. Three-fold death, project ended, basta, rien ne vas plus.

Note that the second point (minimum units production run) has got nothing to do with the crowdfunding campaign itself. But if backers misunderstand that point it can seriously backfire up to the point where an otherwise successful project is killed off just because of misunderstandings + false assumptions of uninformed supporters who often share their subjective views and are mostly unaware of the consequences.

Sorry for that epic long post. But I want good projects like this to succeeed and sensibilize you folks a bit to give constructive criticism insted of rumours. You might not be aware of it but you have your own share of responsibility if you want your project to succeed. Okay, thanks for your time, guys.

Yeah, i spotted the 5.000 number on EVERY perk. But i strongly believe that this is a general placeholder for the maximum units that can be ordered in the Indiegogo. If we assume that there would be more than 5.000 orders reached all above the magic number of 5.000 would get the message. Sorry, campaign ended, no more perks available...! In some other campaigns there are given individual numbers for each perk/thankyou/tier.

Of course a campaign starter could set up a follow-up campaign (not time-limited then). This couldn't be on Paypal as there is I think a 30days timeframe to collect the money, otherwise backers will get an automatic refund. This would not apply to a flexible funding campaign scenario on Indiegogo. Here the campaign starter receives all the money collected even if he reaches just 5% of his funding goal.

But guys, i don't wanna hijack the whole thread. Seriously, ignore me as if I'm not here. You deserve your very own space to speak out. Claim your thread back!

But, indie carmayne, then we agree for the most part. I said that I think he already set the deal too with whatever minimum batch was the condition, not that there is no batch nor that there is one but it is yet to reach. And then I emphasized on the fact that my opinion of it is totally uneducated and shall not be taken at face value. I was merely and humbly raising my hand to answer to a previous post asking if other people thought that the 5000 had nothing to do with the minimum production batch.

Maybe I was not clear, but I have the impression that you are arguing with me about things I did not say (or want to say, or think, but sorry if I made myself misunderstood).

Soon will place my order as well.

Chen don't stop here. Next let's make the phone! Stuff like this is what makes world more interesting place to live and I am happy to do my small part.

Its excellent that this tablet Will be available outside this short campaign time. That gives jolla time to refund all backers and as soon as that is Done, Im in.

Liangchen Chen:
You should add more contact info on the campaign page. On twitter both contacts has to follow eachother to be able to have a conversation, on this forum I don´t have permission to enter "private messages". So this is my last resort.

I am an owner of the Jolla Tablet and I want to know if the casing will be the same for Youyota? If so, is there any possibility to order spare parts for us who has a damages Jolla Tablet. The lower small plastic bar in the front bottom just below the screen is cracked on my JT (I don´t even know if there is an easy way to replace it).

Also, are there any improvements from the Jolla Tablet or is this just a re-branded Jolla Tablet?

Rebranded (and available in red).

It was mentioned by Chen that Jolla Tabs in the initial production may have used a sub-standard grade of plastic suitable for early prototypes, and that youyota tabs should be 'better'

But I don't think we have any kind of a handle on how that better'ness can be quantified...