14 DAY TRIAL // The Finish company Jolla seemed to have found a solution for its Jolla Tablet, but now confirmation has arrived that the project is officially dead.
Jolla's Juhani Lassila was writing only a few weeks ago that "We’re back from the death valley." He was referring to the fact that the company managed to secure some funding and that they were trying really hard to make the tablet a reality.
The problem is that, with all the delays and issues that have plagued the Jolla project, the company has fallen behind on everything, so much so that they are now unable to ship all of the tablets that were promised to the backers on Indiegogo. No translation is needed, but it really seems like the original Jolla Tablet project is officially dead.
It's not sure what's happening next
Antti Saarnio, co-founder and Chairman of the Board of Jolla, explained in a very lengthy post why Jolla failed to meet its goals. It's a combination of poorly anticipated needs and bad luck, but the end result is that the Jolla tablet is no longer happening.
"Ship remaining Tablets to Indiegogo backers: we will ship 540 units as soon as we can starting from February. We realize that this is just a small portion and does not help in resolving the overall situation. Refund the remaining Indiegogo contributors: Jolla aims to refund the total contribution, including shipping and all accessories," Antti Saarnio wrote on the website.
Since they are strapped for cash, they are going to refund the money in two stages, half during the first financial quarter of 2016, and the rest until the end of the year.
One important thing that really stands out is the fact that nothing has been said about the future of the company. The Linux-based operating system Sailfish 2.0 will continue to be improved, in a limited fashion, and they've had some licensing offerings from the industry for the OS.
Unfortunately, as it stands right now, the Jolla Tablet project is officially dead, but the company is still on its feet but without anything to sell.