YotaPhone nixes US release of its double-sided E-ink phone

YotaPhone 2

Despite a successful Indiegogo campaign, the YotaPhone 2 will not be released in North America, which was due to be shipped out starting August.

The company announced today that it would be canceling its plans to launch the phone due to "unforeseen delays" with its manufacturer which would mean that the handset would not make it into users before other regions were already getting newer, better, and less expensive YotaPhones.

The YotaPhone 2 sports a 5-inch AMOLED front display and an always-on, 4.7-inch touchscreen E-Ink screen on the rear.

It also has a 2.2GHz Snapdragon 800 processor, 2GB of RAM, 32GB internal storage, an 8MP rear camera and 2.1MP front snapper.

The Indiegogo campaign for the handset raised nearly $300,000, with at least 16 backers committing to the $1,050 tier.

With the cancelled launch, YotaPhone is offering two options to its backers, including receiving a refund or receiving the international YotaPhone 2 model, which only comes in black and will work all major carriers. Unfortunately, this model will not be able to support LTE.

What went wrong?

In its announcement, YotaPhone says that delays in both production and delivery of the North American variant of YotaPhone 2 from its manufacturer is the reason it is canceling the launch of the handset in this region.

"This was a shock to everyone at Yota Devices, and our leadership team, including our CEO, met with the manufacturer last week in a last-ditch effort to find a solution, but the logistics were insurmountable and the device would simply arrive too late."

It is currently unknown if these manufacturing issues will effect the YotaPhone 3, which was teased back in May.

The third generation YotaPhone is expected to come with a faster processor, sharper display, a better E-ink display, more RAM, a powerful camera and a thinner design.

Via The Verge