Starting a mobile phone company is surprisingly hard — some would say foolish — and OSOM Products, which rose from the smoldering ashes of Essential in 2020, is closing up shop. Android Authority was first to report the news, having obtained an internal announcement from CEO Jason Keats.
OSOM's plans to launch a privacy-focused phone have always been a difficult road to navigate, and like Essential before it, the company has dealt with its own legal battles, specifically a lawsuit from a former employee alleging financial mismanagement.
Meanwhile, the company has successfully released a mobile device, but it wasn't a first-party phone as it had announced. Rather, it contributed its technology to Solana's Web3-focused device.
OSOM has managed to bring a product to market under its own name: the OSOM Privacy Cable, which is essentially a USB cord that can disable data transfer in situations where a “juice jacker” may be present.
“Android Authority is correct: OSOM is unfortunately closing its doors. In May 2024, with no mobile customers despite best efforts, OSOM decided to pivot to new projects at the time,” CEO Jason Keats said in a statement provided to TechCrunch. “At the time, OSOM was forced to lay off a number of employees in order to reduce its burn rate.”
The “new project” appears to refer to an AI-enabled camera that the company is planning as a successor to its unannounced smartphone. Initial reports said Keating had tried to sell the company to HP, but the deal fell through.
“Unfortunately, due to challenging market conditions for financing consumer electronics startups, we were unable to raise new capital,” Keats said. “Some maintenance work to meet contractual requirements will continue, but general operations at OSOM will cease on September 6th.”