We often get this question, "When will you have more colors?" Whether it's comments on socials or a direct message, the question comes across enough that it felt important to devote an entire blog post to it. So, OpenCasers, why are basically all of our iPhone cases black? Well today, we're going to give you an opportunity to see the decision making process that has gone into limiting our color options.
The Origin of the Black OpenCase iPhone Case
As many of you know, the OpenCase MagSafe Case was an idea that I formulated right after seeing the Apple event for the iPhone 12 and the introduction of MagSafe. After a few years of filing patents and testing prototypes out with friends, I decided to do a Kickstarter to launch the product. Rolling up her shelves and saying, "Where can I help?", my wife joined the team the day of the Kickstarter launch. And when I say "team", I mean we became "the team" running OpenCase. Up until that point, I was the only official person and now, we were two.
Before we talked to the factory, we thought it would make sense to offer our customers 4 different colors to choose from. After talking to the factory, we realized we were totally unrealistic. It hurts to have your dreams crushed. The cost of inventory for 4 models of iPhone in 4 different colors was staggering. We quickly realized that we would need to limit it to black iPhone cases.
But the Light Grey iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max Cases?
Following the Kickstarter and the delivery of all the rewards, we send out a survey for customer feedback. A few people commented that they couldn't wait for more color options. When it came time to launch the iPhone 16 cases, we decided to take a risk with our very meager capital. In addition to offering black iPhone cases, we would also offer light grey cases for iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max. It would be a test. If we offered more color choice on our best sellers (Pro and Pro Max), did it lead to sales?
And I really hate telling you this, but the answer was no. Despite the fact that we've sold a lot of black iPhone cases, we just haven't seen that with the light grey. And that is rough. It has left us with a good amount of inventory for a product that has a limited shelf life and less money for daily operations.
So, when it came time to order cases for iPhone 17, it was an easy decision to stick with black. Our customers overwhelmingly prefer black, and additionally, we cannot afford the minimum order quantities for cases in more colors. We want to be here next year. And most importantly, we want to keep making our customers quality products that perform.
What Other Customers Do
One of my favorite things is getting to know our customers. It's a big reason I send a weekly update out that's a little more personal, because I want to start a dialogue. Every now and then, a customer will share something with me, like how they personalized their OpenCase.
So, for those of you that want to add a little pizzazz to your black (or light grey) OpenCase iPhone case, here's some suggestions (at your own risk!) from other OpenCasers. Some customers add stickers to their case. Others have chosen to paint it. One customer turned her light grey case, pink. There are a lot of creative OpenCasers out there.
To Sum Up
Being a start-up isn't easy. You constantly take risks. And you have to do so in an environment where there's so much out of your control. We do it in service of you, the customer, because we believe that our product can make your experience with MagSafe accessories better. It's that simple.And when you purchase one of our products, you signal to us that you believe in us. We don't take that lightly.
Thank you for understanding the challenges that come with being a little guy in a sea of extremely well-funded competitors. My wife and I going to keep giving you our best every day. Plus, black accessories are pretty cool.