Pundi X Misses XPOS Target, Delays XPhone, Long-Term Goal Remains
Singapore-headquartered blockchain company Pundi X blames the bear market and long certification process for missed their expansion targets, but claims that their long-term goals remain unchanged.
The company was not able to ship as many XPOS’s – their point of service device that accepts cryptocurrencies – as planned, postponed their XPhone launch, while the date of the public testing of their Function X testnet is not clear now.
First, Pundi X shipped only 5,500 units of XPOS out of a target of 50,000. Still, their long-term shipping target of 100,000 shipped devices, set for 2021, remains unchanged, according to their spokesperson.
“Some units are pending because of local certification. Now we’ve obtained CE [certification which verifies that a device is compliant with EU requirements] and in the process of obtaining more local certifications. Once we finalize the shipment with our partners, we will be able to provide the estimate number for 2019,” the spokesperson told Cryptonews.com.
Earlier in April, during the Ask Me Anything session, Zac Cheah, Pundi X founder and CEO, said that they were unable to reach their previous goal due to the bear market and the process of obtaining the necessary certifications. However, according to the CEO, after the certification has been received they will begin to accelerate to get the XPOS compliant with the different markets and increase the activation rate of the XPOS.
“<…> we are working hard to engage established global enterprises (especially those) with a large distribution network and footprint. In addition to that, we are exploring the expansion of our XPOS solution footprint by integrating the XPOS into one of the Top 2 point-of-sale manufacturers. We will share the process and details once we have completed the testing,” Cheah said.
The company also claims that XPOS Handy, a more affordable version of XPOS, is now in production and 2,000 units will be produced “soon.”
“The XPOS and XWallet [a mobile app that connects regular digital asset wallets with the Pundi X payment ecosystem] have handled a total of USD 3.9 million in Q1 outbound transaction,” the CEO said. As or April 10, they had almost 180,000 registered users of XWallet, according to the company.
Meanwhile, the company is also at work on their blockchain-based smartphone, called the XPhone, which was initially set to launch in Q2 2019 but has subsequently been moved for the second half of this year.
“In late February, we have just finalized specification and price [USD 599]. Testing and detailing are required before we bring the first generation of XPhone to the market,” the spokesperson told us, adding, “We plan to produce 5,000 units of XPhone only. For more XPhone units in the future, we plan to work with phone manufacturers to build the ecosystem together.”
Back in February, the company announced a redesign of the phone, which included the X button, allowing users to switch to the dapps (decentralized applications) on the blockchain mode with a press of the button. On the blockchain mode, the services in the XPhone can operate independently of centralized carriers, so that users can route phone calls, messages, and data via blockchain nodes without the need for centralized service providers.
As reported, XPOS and XPhones are only a part of Pundi X’s plan to build a blockchain with tens of thousands of nodes, as it is developing Function X, “a decentralized ecosystem built entirely on and for the blockchain.” In December 2018, the company estimated that the Function X testnet should be available for public testing in Q2 of this year. However, according to the spokesperson, the testnet is still in the works and the time for public testing has not been set yet.
The ecosystem’s native token, NPXS, is currently ranked 47th by market capitalization.
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