How dose it work that big company (or somebody taking license from them) is making such cardinal mistakes:
misleading communication with mostly no real information value
competition for video while only small percentage of people got their product
shipping in mysterious order (and I get it they could ship in packs of 500 to help with the cost, but it’s outrageous that people with numbers 16k+ get theirs before people with number <4k)
telling false information even when asked multiple times about the features of the projector
And it is not all. How does it came to such a mess?
The excuses brigade will be here in a minute, telling us about IGG and expectations.
Reality - numerous occasions we were told this was a Philip’s project, and hence our std IGG concerns should be laid to rest. Philip’s were simply taking advantage of the communities feedback to create a better product, which has happened tbf.
Logistically however, well, I’m not that sure it could have been more of a disaster.
As a positive, the software dev team have been AAA on almost all fronts and I’m still looking forward to receiving a great product.
Quite simple: They don’t seem have the skills to deal with this kind of exposure and public scrutiny during the time-to-market. Period.
This was a pilot they tried, and I think one of the results is that while they may be able to develop, market, and support their products according to their regular way of working, this out-of-comfort-zone project has shown them where they have shortcomings.
Yes, there have been problems on all sorts of fronts and areas. Had it been a startup then most would’ve been more understanding and forgiving, but with the brand name comes the heat and scrutiny also I guess.
So that’s all happened and true. Question is, what do we, the backers, do about this all now?
We can rant, get upset, let tensions (and blood pressures) run high, or we can try to relax and wait for the orders to arrive in due time. Regardless of how this has (and may continue to be) mishandled in your opinion, this would seem to me to be the best way forward.
This is of course my personal view and advice, feel free to agree or disagree. But try to not let it all harm you personally, please.
I guess they let the marketing department handle backer support. Good work on a purpose that does not fit. They trained us well in deciphering update messages.
Seems to me that it’s a question of point of view:
I received my ppm at the end of January since I backed the project at the end of August. I’m glad with the product and I even found a carrying case that matches it about perfectly.
So, in my opinion it was a wonderful project and I’m very happy with it. IMO, calling it a mess is just a nonsense.
I hope you will have the same sensation when having it in your mailbox.
I don’t have mine yet, but I don’t see this project as a disaster at all. Following along with all the updates I’ve seen a series of unfortunate events take place that have resulted in a delay, but hardly a disaster. China shutting down because of a viral epidemic is hardly their fault.
Ditto what John_Lewis is saying, don’t have mine yet and not sure when my region will be shipped too - there were some delays that were perhaps more within the companies control and some such as coronavirus which are entirely outwith their control.
They definitely could be doing better at communication - but conversely it’s pretty clear that the people on the forum aren’t marketing people - they have roles in making the product as well, which is pretty cool it means you can get genuinely informed behind the scenes commentary but at the same time means they don’t necessary have full answers on the pressing concerns. In an ideal world we’d already have our projectors and Prashant would be communicating with us directly on even more improvements (and confusing me quite often), sadly things haven’t gone completely to plan but I’ve no doubt my projector is coming.
I’m sure Screeneo have learned a lot from the experience
I agree with the post.
It is pretty unacceptable that a HUGE company lets something like this hapen. It is mistake a many levels.
We have 6 (SIX) months delay. The virus affected China AFTER October, which was the expect delivery date. But ok, delays are normal in indiegogo but I was surely not expecting this to happen with Philips.
On top, the product is STILL available on Indiegogo. Like nothing happened. So some lucky ones can have it today at the same price and (hopefully) just with one month wait or something like that. Personally I gave my money to Philips 7 (SEVEN) months ago… and I foind it pretty funny to pay the VAT and confirm my address months ago when NOTHING was ready.
I know about the lockdown. I am in a lockdown since last month. BUT as I said the first delivery date was well before the coronavirus crisis (like 2 months before).
and yes, I never complained in the last 6 months and patiently waited for the product. But given the total lack of communication (as for example an acknowledgment that I changed my delivery address) put me in a bad mood.
No, those resellers are also backers, to a bigger tune even than you or me. Perhaps they even had higher priority than anyone on Indiegogo, as they backed before it even went online at Indiegogo.
I was one of the fortunate ones who got my projector with no issues. However my big complaint is that even though the hardware is phenomenal, the software is extremely half-baked and even amateurish. Updates slowly fix bugs, but really the whole UI system needs to be overhauled for better usability, and numerous low-level playback issues (stuttering, random crashes in the middle of playing a video stream, terrible contrast in some video sources, making content unwatchable, etc.) need to be fixed. Terrible software is letting this great product down in a big way. I’m considering just plugging in a Chromecast and forgetting the Philips interface even exists.
The software development also takes place for the mayority in China, so that was also hampered by the Chinese New Year and the Corona lockdown which just ended in China a few weeks ago.
The plan is to ramp up the fixes and have the beta testing team test the living daylights out of them, and only release versions with many fixes.
Backer ID 1913 and I still haven’t received my unit.
This is a licensing arrangement by Philips to Screeneo. Why don’t you reach out to the Philips team responsible for this licensing. Contacts can be found at
Y’all are too precious. If you didn’t know anything about crowd funding platforms and you backed, then I could understand your reaction. But by now you must know the problems that can happen with these things, and being an early adopter is the price you pay. There are always always delays with projects on these platforms.
My suggestion is to get a grip, and wait patiently like the other 10,000+ people
