British phone maker Bullitt Group reportedly shut down on Jan. 26 after reports circulated earlier this month that the company was insolvent.
Ted Warren, Bullitt’s former accounts receivable manager, announced this week on LinkedIn that the past few months have been “challenging” and that the entire Bullitt Group has gone bankrupt. Many other Bullitt workers also announced the closure of phone makers Caterpillar and Land Rover. Mobile World Live reported.
A quick search of Bullitt’s affiliated workers on LinkedIn shows that at least 22 accounts for which Bullitt is indexed as an employer are now “open for work,” a LinkedIn label used to imply that the user is currently out of work. According to director of channel marketing, Steve Morgan, the company had more than two hundred employees at any given time.
It’s conceivable that Bullitt has also laid off its visitor service teams, as Bullitt’s multiple attempts to contact Bullitt’s U. S. visitor service have led to the collapse of Bullitt’s U. S. visitor services. U. S. phone calls now directly affect voicemail. Your account X hasn’t sent a new message or responded since December.
In 2022, Bullitt attempted to “move away from hardware” towards its satellite offering, a representative previously told The Telegraph. Bullitt also created the Motorola Defy satellite link, a clip-on device that enables satellite messaging for any smartphone.
In early January, The Telegraph reported that Bullitt had planned to transfer its satellite service business and its employees, apparently separate from its heavy-duty mobile hardware business, to a new company. One former Bullitt employee, Tim Shepherd, wrote that he was let go from his product marketing position because Bullitt was unable to move forward with a “critical planned restructuring,” suggesting a new company is unlikely at this point.
PCMag previously reviewed Bullitt’s early Caterpillar phones, such as the Cat S60 and the Cat S40. The Cat S61 had a few quirky features, like its ability to measure air quality. Bullitt released the first rugged Cat phone back in 2012.
Bullitt has not yet released information about its closure and PCMag has reached out to the company for comment.
While Bullitt may no longer exist, there are other rugged smartphones out there. From Samsung’s XCover7 to the Sonim XP10 to the Kyocera DuraForce Pro 3, buyers of anything with amazing durability and water resistance still have other features to choose from.
I’m a journalist who covers the morning news. Prior to joining PCMag in 2024, I was a journalist and manufacturer at Decrypt and introduced their gaming vertical, GG. I’ve previously signed with Input, Game Rant, and Dot Esports. I’ve been a PC gamer since The Sims (yes, the original). In 2020, I finally built my first PC with a 3090 graphics card, but I also use Mac and iOS devices regularly. As a journalist, I’m passionate about locating scoops and documenting the vast world of the generation and how it affects our daily lives.
I am a journalist who covers the morning news. Before joining PCMag in 2024, I was a journalist and maker at Decrypt and introduced their gaming vertical, GG. I have previously signed with Input, Game Rant and Dot Esports. I’ve been a PC gamer since The Sims (yes, the original). In 2020, I finally built my first PC with a 3090 graphics card, but I also use Mac and iOS devices regularly. As a journalist, I am passionate about finding scoops and documenting the vast world of generation and how it affects our daily lives.