We’ve been waiting for i-mate to get their Ultimate lineup up and running for some time now. The Ultimate devices are ready to rock, but delays and carrier resistance has caused i-mate to miss its target window for a US launch.
i-mate was banking on the Ultimate lineup of handsets
bringing them out of the semi-obscurity they’ve always enjoyed and into the global limelight. Their Ultimate devices are impressive (if a bit homely), but it’s been a long time in getting those devices out to the public. In fact, it seems that it’s been too long in coming.
With costs mounting and revenues failing to keep up, i-mate has reportedly served pink-slips to most of its US division. Last Friday, i-mate chopped the entire engineering, QA, and tech writing departments off the i-mate payroll – leaving only a barebones staff to run the i-mate online portal in hopes of more US-sales. Even the Chief Software Officer and VP of Sales and Marketing took a walk after the massive employee firing on Friday.
The Ultimate 8502 and Ultimate 9502 are serious players in a crowded smartphone market, we hope i-mate stays around long enough in the US to prove themselves.
[Via: Engadget Mobile]