Establishing Our Shenzhen Operations & Supply Chain Independence

By José Angel Torres & Dev Team

After working tirelessly and restlessly, we're excited to introduce our Shenzhen operations - a major milestone in our journey toward the 2025 Popcorn Computer delivery. We have been slowly building out our in-house capabilities, successfully establishing our local physical office space in Shenzhen Huaqiangbei and hiring dedicated employees to build out sufficient supply chain and testing facilities.

Strategic Independence from Single-Factory Dependency

Our primary goal has been to avoid depending on any ONE factory for final assembly. By establishing our own local operations in Shenzhen's electronics hub, we now have direct control over quality assurance, component sourcing, and production timelines.

Our New Shenzhen Operations

We've secured office space in the heart of Shenzhen Huaqiangbei, the world's largest electronics market district. This strategic location allows us to:

  • Direct component sourcing from verified suppliers
  • In-house quality testing before any assembly begins
  • Rapid prototyping and design iteration
  • Local talent acquisition for specialized manufacturing expertise

Here's our new office space in Shenzhen Huaqiangbei:

Our office front door - full view

Our office front door - close-up

Please note: Our facility operates by appointment only. We do not accept unscheduled visits to ensure our team can maintain focus on production and quality assurance activities.

Component Inspection & Testing Process

Our team has been conducting rigorous inspections of all critical components. Here's what we've been validating:

Display Components & Assemblies

Inspecting custom displays

Closer look at display quality

Inspection of flexible PCB on display

Input System Components

Inspecting clear back covers

Diffusion film for keyboard backlight

Snapdome keyboard keys inspection

Individual snapdome overlay stickers

Closer inspection of overlay stickers

Quality Assurance Testing

Our rigorous testing protocols ensure every unit meets our standards:

Visual inspections passed on this unit

Power-on testing for dead pixels and color consistency

Cycling through different color states

Stylus testing of touch functionality

Power & Assembly Verification

Visual inspection of custom battery

Final assembled unit keyboard backlight testing

Timeline Progress: Now in Q3 2025 Quality Testing

We're proud to report that we remain on schedule with our 2025 roadmap. As outlined on our main page, we have successfully completed Q1 2025's "Finalizing Design" phase and Q2 2025's "Finish Production" phase, and are now in Q3 2025's comprehensive quality testing phase. The component inspections and testing you see above represent our rigorous quality assurance protocols as we validate every aspect of the final units.

What's Next:

  • Q3 2025 (Current): Comprehensive quality testing using our Shenzhen facilities
  • Q4 2025: Start shipping to our patient and loyal backers

Thank You for Your Patience

We know this journey has required tremendous patience from our community. The decision to establish our own operations rather than rushing with a single factory dependency was not taken lightly. Your continued support has made this strategic investment possible, and we believe it will result in a much higher quality product and more reliable delivery timeline.

More Updates Coming

This is just the beginning of regular updates from our Shenzhen operations. Expect to see:

  • Behind-the-scenes content from our office and testing facilities
  • Component deep-dives as we validate each subsystem
  • Quality testing progress as we complete our comprehensive validation
  • Pre-shipping preparations as we move toward Q4 delivery

Stay tuned to this project log for the latest developments. We're more committed than ever to delivering the Popcorn Computer you've been waiting for.


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