Analogue Pocket pre-order system may change the way we buy electronics
If you've been waiting for a chance to order an Analogue Pocket, then here's some very good news: pre-orders for Analogue's FPGA handheld are set to go live once again. FPGA gaming fans have been waiting a long time for pre-orders to open back up, and now that's happening later this week. Unfortunately, this good news about pre-orders is coupled with some not-so-great news regarding pricing and shipping.
Analogue Pocket price hike before pre-orders
Analogue announced on its Twitter account that Pocket pre-orders will open up on December 14th at 8 AM PST. For those of you without a calendar handy, that's tomorrow, so if you've been waiting on a chance to order a Pocket handheld, you'll want to be on Analogue's website tomorrow morning.
That's especially true when you consider that Analogue will be shipping out orders in three different fulfillment groups. Group A will have their Pockets shipped in Q1 2022, but Group B won't see their orders begin shipping out until Q4 2022. The final group, Group C, will have to wait until 2023 to get their orders. Fulfillment groups will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis, so if you want to dodge Groups B and C, you'll need to be ready to order when they go live tomorrow.
That isn't a great timeline, but unfortunately, it's just a reality of living with the current parts shortage. So too are price hikes, it would seem, as Analogue has announced that when Pocket pre-orders open up again, the handheld will be priced higher at $219 (up $20 from its original price of $199). All other accessories made for the Pocket will stay at the same price, but Analogue says that the cost of the console itself had to increase because of industry-wide shortages.
Initial Pocket pre-orders shipping out today
If you previously ordered a Pocket, then you get some excellent news, as orders are going out beginning today. Even better is that Analogue has upgraded every order to two-day shipping via FedEx to make up for the delays. That means most, if not all, of the people who already ordered a Pocket should receive theirs by the middle of this week.
It's been a long road to get to this point with the Pocket. First revealed in October 2019, pre-orders were eventually delayed to August 2020, and then shipments were delayed multiple times after that until we arrived at this point where those orders are finally shipping out. Unfortunately for the Pocket, it was announced right before the COVID-19 pandemic changed life and manufacturing as we know it, so the Pocket's multiple delays have been indicative of the struggles the industry as a whole has been facing over the past two years.
Sadly, these fulfillment groups Analogue announced for new Pocket orders are another result of the pandemic. It seems a little ridiculous to be ordering a product you know won't be here for at least a year, but that's where we've wound up. When companies like Analogue are being forced to pare back on component orders, fulfillment groups like the ones announced for the Pocket might be the way we'll have to buy electronics until we're on the other side of this pandemic.