Dyson acknowledges early CameraJet component issue as Jake Dyson details six-year development

TechRadar reported the launch has been dogged by multiple reports of the new gadget breaking soon after purchase, and that the toothbrush shows as out of stock in multiple territories including the US, UK and Australia. Dyson said in a statement: "We have had a very positive reaction to the new Dyson CameraJet and are experiencing strong demand globally. We are seeing some shortages of supply as we are in the process of scaling up production." The company added that it is aware a small number of early batches may have had a component issue, is isolating those batches and is taking all necessary steps to support customers.

At the Dyson Unveiled event, Jake Dyson, the company's chief engineer and son of founder James Dyson, discussed the development of the CameraJet. He said the product took six years to develop, in part because it needed to "work perfectly" before launch. The core feature is a 100k-pixel macro lens camera that identifies gaps in a user's teeth and delivers a targeted jet of mouthwash directly at them.

Jake Dyson said Dyson probably could have launched the CameraJet two years earlier, but it would not have hit every gap perfectly. "It genuinely took six years to train that camera, because of the variations in people's mouths. It's highly complex," he said, citing saliva, movement in front of the camera, darkness, shade and light as factors the machine learning had to account for. He compared the challenge to a driverless car in snow losing its environment.

The lengthy development period also helped make the product viable. Jake Dyson said that six years ago the camera, chips and compute power would probably have been too expensive. Their costs fell enough during development to make a consumer product possible. Even so, the CameraJet has a list price of $499.99, £419.99 or AU$799. Jake Dyson described it as "essentially a $70,000 piece of lab equipment in a handheld consumer product."

Dyson has borrowed color combinations from its beauty lineup, including hair dryers and Airwraps, because it considers the toothbrush a beauty product as well. At launch there are two colorways: Ceramic Ultra Blue, an electric blue inspired by Yves Klein, and Ceramic Pink, a blush pink. Both have rose-gold detailing and a heather-purple dock. Jake Dyson said the colors differentiate the product from other toothbrushes, which he described as white, black or "a nasty pink," and make it recognizable as Dyson.

Jake Dyson also said that when Dyson enters a new area, it does so knowing it has more products behind it. He confirmed there are follow-ups in the works, according to TechRadar. The CameraJet remains the company's immediate focus as it addresses early quality reports and supply constraints.

Editor's Summary Dyson has acknowledged that a small number of early CameraJet batches may have had a component issue and that supply is short as production scales, following reports of breakages and stock shortages in several markets. The CameraJet is Dyson's first oral-care product, built around a 100k-pixel macro camera and targeted mouthwash jet after six years of development, and priced at $499.99, £419.99 or AU$799. Its early quality and availability problems will test the company's push into a new category.