British smartphone maker Wileyfox is dead. A company employee took to their verified Reddit account to make the announcement on February 6, stating that the firm had gone into administration.
Writing on Reddit, user Wileyfox-Jack said "Wileyfox Europe Limited is in Administration. Andrew Andronikou and Andrew Hosking are appointed joint administrators and act jointly and severely without personal liability."
Wileyfox launched in August 2015, and TechRadar was there to witness the introduction of the exciting new brand, offering well-built, 4G enabled smartphones at affordable price points.
Over the years it had a mix of success and failure with its smartphone range, but ultimately it appears its low cost, low margins approach wasn't enough to keep it afloat.
What does it mean for current owners?
For now, it's not clear what this means for owners of Wileyfox handsets, but it's likely not good.
Jack writes "I'm afraid I won't be able to answer such questions as 'What will happen to my phone that's off for repair'", but he notes "for phone updates this won't happen anymore I'm afraid unless something drastically changes" and "for repairs and warranties that's up to the administrator now so I can't and won't comment on that."
We have contacted Wileyfox for more information on this news, and will update this article when we know more.
- Wileyfox phone reviews: Swift 2 | Swift 2 Plus | Swift 2 X | Spark Plus | Spark X