The latest financial results paint a grim picture for i-mate. The company announced its first ever pre-tax loss. An article by The Herald looks at how i-mate ended up in this position.
In 2006, i-mate replaced HTC as its OEM supplier with new partners Inventec Corporation, Tech Faith Intelligent Handset Technology and Arima Communications Corporation. And it appears that many of i-mate’s troubles then started. i-mate had to deal with insufficient stock, quality problems as its partners tried to keep up with orders. Shipments to Europe and the Americas were hard hit. i-mate had to shed 25 percent of its workforce as a result of its performance.
Jim Morrison, i-mate’s CEO, expects that things will start to turn around later this year when it unveils some new products that are “technically superior to other Windows Mobile devices in the marketplace”. An agreement with distributor Brightpoint should also help it ensure that its products reach all the corners of the world.