Following a series of reports from various outlets in the past few days, Ayaneo has deleted an announcement post on its Ayaneo Flip Indiegogo project page, which most of us took to mean the handhelds were being discontinued entirely. A new post clarifies that the Ayaneo Flip KB and Flip DS are not being discontinued, despite how seriously the original phrasing seemed to precisely imply that.
Instead, Ayaneo has clarified several points. For one, while the production of the Ayaneo Flip series was indeed canceled, it was only after 98% of its crowdfunding orders had already been shipped, with just 18 orders remaining unshipped. Thus, the series qualified for the refunding or trade-in options highlighted in our prior coverage.
Secondly, the Ayaneo Flip series has not been discontinued. Ayaneo has pledged to produce an additional batch of "several hundred Ayaneo Flip units within the next three months" and even said that "the Flip series will continue", meaning a future Flip DS 2 and Flip KB 2 are both very real possibilities. Considering the presence of other foldable or slidable keyboard gaming handhelds already, this writer thinks it'd be best to focus on the Flip DS form factor, but that part's just my opinion.
This is a fortunate update for those interested in the Ayaneo Flip handheld but were planning to wait for an official retail run instead of backing a crowdfunding campaign. Fortunately, it still seems that a retail release is happening via the "limited restock plan," though we don't yet have a proper release date for the restocked Ayaneo Flip units. After the waves caused by this campaign, we wouldn't be surprised to see those units disappear quickly as soon as they go on sale.
Hopefully, there will be enough units for genuine enthusiasts, and that scalpers won't ruin the party for everyone. The unique form factor of the Ayaneo Flip KB and especially the Ayaneo Flip DS combined with their powerful internals make them a genuinely distinct choice compared to other gaming handhelds on the market, and seeing them get another chance before their eventual successors debut in the coming years is still nice to see.
Unfortunately, those 18 backers who have yet to receive their units will still need to choose between a refund or trading in toward another Ayaneo handheld before March 27, at least if the past posting still applies. Ayaneo claims to have already contacted the impacted backers.
