Hey everyone. From the talk around the forums, sounds like everyone is anxiously awaiting the TKC1800. No one wants this to happen more than me. Ive sunk thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours into this project. Once these PCBs arrive, we can get the orders going. I might even open ordering as soon as I have a signed PO and confirmed ship date from the new factory.
The Ugly:
So heres what happened. I placed an order for the PCBs though a contact in China. The manufacturer said they had started production, but never sent an invoice. They have since stopped responding to me and to my contact. We were supposed to have these done and shipped prior to Chinese New Year.
The Bad:
The supplier we were working with was giving excellent pricing for low volume (which lets face it, most things like this are low quantity in the eyes of a factory). The other quotes we had were significantly higher (30% or so higher)
The Good:
If youre still reading, here is the good news. We have sent out the design to a dozen or so manufacturers. The order will be placed as soon we get the quotes. TKC will split the difference of the increased cost of manufacturing to keep the price attractive to buyers. The other good news is, I havent taken anyones money on this project, so unlike group buys that go south, no hard feelings at this point. The other good news is that the cases and plates are in stock here NOW so there will be no delays on any other parts.
I can assure you all myself and my team are doing everything we can to make sure this happens as fast as possible. I expect our supply of PCBs to be here by April, based on the delay from Chinese New Year and a month of production / shipping time.
If you have questions, ask away in the forums. Please dont email me asking when they will be ready. Im am being as transparent as possible about this and this is all I know at this point.
Lastly, any other vendors or makers out there, if you have a recommendation on a good PCB supplier to talk to, please drop me a line at orders@thekey.company. I will be forever in your debt.
