I think that rogue sales are an inevitable result of frustration at the lengthy delay between the announcement of the existence of the i86 and any (still awaited) official sales. We also have a couple of other models (the i67 and D67) that have released specs, but no hint of sales.
When I bought my i62HD, Onyx-Boox was at the forefront of introduction of HD screens, and not long thereafter the introduction of frontlights (the Firefly) and Android (the i63). Since then, it seems to have become increasingly tentative, both with what new technologies it adopts (all the more glaring given the relative dearth of new technologies to start with), and with actually bringing itself to release new models.
[Addendum: I've also found evidence of another unreleased model, the
i65]