The world’s first folding smartphone maker is about to go bankrupt
Royole Corp, known as the world’s first maker of commercially available foldable smartphones, is on the brink of financial collapse.
The company has been unable to pay employees for the past six months due to a lack of cash, according to a report in local media. This information is in line with previous reports that the Shenzhen-based company suffered a financial crisis after it failed to complete its $22 billion IPO in Shanghai earlier this year. 2021.
A former executive of the company, who wished to remain anonymous, revealed that the company has been struggling financially since the IPO plan fell through.
A screenshot that has gone viral on social media in China shows Royole’s finance department emailing all employees in February to announce that the company is working on new funding and Some financing has been delayed.
Company representatives did not respond to any request for comment.
Royole’s FlexPai folding smartphone.
While it’s not unusual for startups to rise and fall quickly, Royole’s crisis is arguably surprising given the glamor that surrounded the company in its early days.
Its founder Liu Zihong has a PhD from Stanford University and his venture has received backing from a long list of big-name investors, including IDG Capital, Green Pine Capital Partners, and Green Pine Capital Partners. and Shenzhen Capital Group.
Its flexible display technology has been touted as a leader in the field and its first foldable smartphone, FlexPai, was launched in 2018.
Royole co-founder and CEO Liu Zihong introduces the foldable phone during a press conference in Beijing in 2018.
But the product failed to deliver, and according to the latest financial data, the company lost $151 million in the first half of 2020, after a $172 million loss in 2019 and a $125 million loss in 2018.
Royole applied for a listing with the Shanghai Stock Exchange on New Year’s Eve 2020, but it withdrew the application a month later because of an ownership structure problem.
In a social media post on December 21, 2021, founder Liu wrote that “in the darkest hour, there is no use expecting someone to bring coal on a snowy day; The only thing we can do is keep going.”
Refer to SCMP
at Blogtuan.info – Source: genk.vn – Read the original article here
