ONT Axes P2 Solo, Roiling Community
Oxford Nanopore has a serious case of user community unrest, triggered by the announcement that the P2 Solo (aka P2s) will be phased out starting this summer. P2 Solo is the two flowcell version of PromethION which required external GPU for basecalling; P2i is the sibling with onboard GPU. P2 Solo clearly has a very passionate constituency, one which feels betrayed by its discontinuation. This ongoing episode - ONT could always change their mind and restore the P2 Solo - is a cautionary tale of the challenges of changing corporate strategy in the context of a brand which has built a near cult-like loyalty.
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