Telly's 2023 launch promised free dual-screen TVs in exchange for perpetual ads, with executives projecting 500,000 shipments that summer. By late 2025, however, the company had only delivered 35,000 sets to consumers, according to a quarterly investor update reported by Janko Roettgers of *Lowpass*. Telly declined to comment on the figure.

Despite generating 250,000 pre-orders in June 2023, the startup faced significant logistical hurdles. The same report indicated that 10% of shipments via FedEx arrived broken, a claim supported by user complaints on the company's Reddit page about delayed and damaged replacements.

The struggles highlight the difficulty of executing a hardware-dependent ad-supported model. With its core value proposition being free hardware, Telly's ability to fulfill orders and maintain customer trust is now the primary challenge, overshadowing initial consumer interest in its unconventional approach.