Finland based mobile startup, Jolla, which was founded by a group of ex-Nokia software developers, has closed its pre-sales campaign for its first Sailfish OS based smartphone, which it had unveiled in May.
The company
said (pdf) that the first production batch of Jolla smartphones has been fully booked.
The first Jolla based smartphones are targeted to begin shipping by the end of 2013, starting with Europe, as per the company.
It disclosed that it had received online pre-orders from 136 countries, but did not shed light on the number of units booked.
"We are delighted to see this great worldwide interest towards our very first device. When you see someone wearing an 'I am the First One' T-shirt, you see a proud future owner of Jolla," says Tomi Pienimäki, CEO of Jolla. "For those, who missed the first opportunity, we are now doing our best to offer a second chance, a new batch of Jolla smartphones later in the autumn. I encourage everyone interested in Jolla to sign up at jolla.com and be the first to know about any new developments, such as the opening of the next pre-sales campaign."
According to a
report by TechCrunch, Jolla has hinted that the number of devices sold through the campaign may be in the tens of thousands of units range. The report quotes a Jolla spokesperson saying, "Although Jolla is not giving out the exact number of devices prebooked it can be said that the size of the production batch for a mobile device vendor of this size is typically 50,000 units."
Jolla had
introduced a Kickstarter-like 'Movement' in May, in which people could participate by pre-ordering the phone. One could opt for a zero-cost pre-order option to reserve the phone when it launches, or pay 40 Euros for a limited edition phone and a t-shirt along with assured priority status. One could also pay 100 Euros and get all the goodies along with an extra back cover and 100 Euros off on the total price.