If you thought it was going to be manufactured in the UK i don't know what to tell you.

The device being built in China issue the issue, that is where phons are made. Asian customers getting it now is not the issue, they have just as much right to the phone as you.

Un-communicated delays are the issue, and it's bad on their side to keep doing it even after being called out on it before. It just happens to effect EU and US customers.

I think if 29th was announced as the start date of shipping and they started transporting devices, they kind of made it. If the phones are produced, I don't think it really matters whether they will get sent this week, next week or a bit later.

Compared to Neo900 for example, I don't see reasons to worry that much if that was kind of device you waited for years.

Nothing really matters regarding most things. Nobody is loosing their homes or job, I get that.

I'm personally just frustrated as they keep moving dates (multiple times now), changing items (no more case with the phone, now a sleeve), and generally being vague and coy.

When any product says "shipping 29th" it means it on it way to customers. They know they would not manage this as the phones are still in China, and still being produced, but instead of letting us know this, they said all was going to plan, until the date arrived and they they mention its only to some customers in one region.

Yes the kind of made it, but that is giving them credit in doing the minimum, if it was their first delay or miss-communication fine, but its a trend now so they dont really deserve credit.

I really dont like being this negative, but they sure are not helping.

To be fair, we can probably expect a much shorter delay than that since some units were already at the Chinese customs on the 29th, and they travel by air freight. Now we don't know how many units have left China, so predictions on shipments for most pre-orderers remain difficult.

You are more positive than I

I picture a few days to get to EU (where mine will be sent from), a few days to clear customs and get to the fulfillment centers, a few days to pack, and then they are off... at least the firs few hundred or so... and I will not be in the first batch.

but i'd love to be wrong

I am guessing (maybe mistakenly) the first units mentioned on the 29th should have went through customs already unless something went wrong, and perhaps they have already been imported in the destination country. But I'm afraid the packing/labeling for final shipments to customers could be very time consuming depending on the number of units and the available workforce. I remember how painful it was for Jolla on their first phone; surely they sold more units at once and the release date was the same for all stocks, but I hope F(x)tec won't face the same kind of issues at this step.

Which are you:

a) a linux enthusiast and developer

b) a geek (and linux enthusiast)

c) a hacker shifting from N900 to a new qwerty device

d) a privacy concerned citizen

e) a mere consumer in a rush for a new device?

Waiting is painfull and the time when you follow it get's longer.

I seriously doubt anyone from our forum falls under your categorization "e" ..." A mere consumer in a rush for a new device ..."

Sure there are lots of folks in our forum chasing shiny shiny new things all the time...
Jumping on the the latest hope...
Rushing like lemmings ...praying for ....

Oh damn...
Ok Maemish .......so maybe you have a valid arguement for "e" category after all...

No, they didn't make it. They specified the 29th wouldn't be shipping "internally" to customs or to fulfillment centers, that it would be to customers instead. Besides, they are saying they're shipping to certain Asian customers, but there's been no third party verification about that and even themselves are being a bit vague about this. They could easily be lying about this as well, it's not like they don't have a track record of actions like those.

I also just don't trust the video. This is pure speculation, but to me it seems like it was made last week. Like it was supposed to be the promised update video that never came. But because Chen said the phone would be shipping at the end of the week, and they noticed they didn't come close to it, they just decided to delay the video instead.

And you're right, I don't think it really matters if the shipment date slips by a couple of weeks either. The problem is that these "minor" slips have been happening constantly. From summer, to shortly after your payment request, to late summer, to early October, to mid October, to the 29th at the latest, to mid November for most if not all, to late November for general availability. That's 5 months in case you didn't realize. Sure, most of those were "soft" dates, but that's part of the problem.

Considering there's at least 1 device in the wild in EskeRahn's hands, who's also been realistically critical at recent "marketing" developments, but who's been praising the hardware (aside from a couple of nitpicks), I think these issues are (gladly) only on the "marketing" side. Seems to me like they're engineers who're good at engineering, but not so good at marketing. Which in the end when you have the phone wouldn't be an issue, but right now it's extremely annoying. So I don't think it's an elaborate scam, or that they won't be able to deliver, I just think (and please don't take it personally) that all the marketing and customer relations is a bit mismanaged.

As mentioned a few posts back, don't mock the "mere consumer", or as I prefer the "average user". I feel like there is a condescending tone and that's not cool.
The average user 10 years ago was making calls and sending sms. Huge difference between him and a geek/power user.
The average user today uses 3-4 social networks, another 4 messengers, browsing, photos, games and other apps.
Meaning the MOST power and spec hungry apps today.
And he demands seamless transitions, fluid user experience, other gimmicks, design and battery.
It's because of the "average consumer" that we have so many great devices today, even at low prices.