The Android console Ouya has been making a big splash as of late as being one of the most prominent Android gaming consoles on the market. With the device hitting retail shelves today, it seems that not all of the original Kickstarter backers have received their devices. This is a huge issue as every early adopter was promised that this sort of thing would not happen. Ouya CEO Julie Uhrman took to Kickstarter today to express her feelings on the situation.
She started off by saying that she was “pissed” that not every Kickstarter supporter has received his or her devices. She says “Some of you have not yet received your Ouya – and, to you, I apologize. I did not promise to ship to most of you before we hit store shelves. I promised to ship to all of you. I’ve been reading your comments, and we are working to resolve this.” While it is certainly good to have an apology from the CEO herself, it may not make any of the early adopters feel any better.
Ouya is currently available in stores all around the country such as Gamestop, Target, and Best Buy. For just $99, it is gaining an extraordinary amount of attention and consequently, making the Kickstarter backers even more upset.
Along with Julie’s comments, Ken Stephens, Head of Operations at OUYA chimed in. He gave a more specific explanation of what is happening with the original shipments. Due to manufacturing and shipping from Hong Kong, the entire process seems to be taking way longer than initially expected. Ken goes on to say “On average, shipment processing–from fulfillment center to product delivery–runs 20 days, end to end. It takes 3 to 5 days to pick, pack and ship the units out — and then 15 to 17 days of transit time”.
As expected, most users are less than thrilled. They have taken to Kickstarter comments and Facebook posts to share their disgust with how the company has treated them. Nobody blames them as it makes no sense that retail stores we able to get shipments while early backers still haven’t. Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time this has happened with the Android community as a similar situation unfolded during the Nexus 7 launch.
So if you were an early backer, let us know if you have received word on your shipment. And if you werent have you been able to walk into retail stores to pick one up? Let us know in the comments.