Has JooJoo Lost Its Mojo?

While the JooJoo, Fusion Garage’s flagship product, was never marketed as an iPad clone, the iPad’s official launch in Singapore tomorrow 23rd July should have triggered a flurry of activity from Fusion Garage’s PR machine. However, a quick Google search will show that there’s been no coverage on the JooJoo or Fusion Garage itself in recent months. What’s going on?

What’s Crimping Your Style, Fusion Garage?

Is it the lawsuit with TechCrunch?
The motion to dismiss the lawsuit was filed some time ago and they’re waiting to hear from the courts. The company is, presumably, bigger than the legal counsel. Surely the company must be working on their products while the legal wrangling is being sorted out?

Is it the product?
The JooJoo isn’t a bad product. It has a great display, it’s a beautifully engineered tablet, but there’s been no word on promised updates such as full-flash support for popular websites, and an e-magazine app. And what’s with the buggy resizing of webpages such that I need to left-right scroll? It’s not a difficult thing to fix.

Speaking of Which, How’s the JooJoo Doing Anyway?
While Fusion Garage has been close-mouthed about sales figures, saying only that they are meeting expectations, one does wonder given the revelation that only 90 pre-orders were made (64, if you deduct the cancellations). There was a flurry of coverage after the JooJoo was (finally) released around then world, then this deathly silence. What are we supposed to believe?

Is the JooJoo Lost in Space?

To have ever believed that the JooJoo would be an iPad slayer would be naive, but Fusion Garage’s silence is deeply worrying. What are some lessons that Fusion Garage can draw from its experience so far?

Deliver a solid product
Respect your customer. While everyone might be looking for something a little different, people notice attention to detail. So lovely display–good; left-right scroll, careless.

Keep to Your Timelines (as Far as Possible)
Fusion Garage’s numerous delays cost it the momentum it needed to truly make an impact against the market leader. If the JooJoo had managed to ship before the iPad, it would have had the opportunity to define the game.

Get Good Lawyers
And make sure they read the contracts thrice. That’s for you too, Mike.

Missed out on what happened before with the JooJoo? Check out here, here , here, here and here.

For consumers in Singapore, the JooJoo is available for order at the webstore. It is priced at S$699, with shipping at S$25.

Image credit: Lomo-Cam

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