The Finnish Jolla has applied for a debt restructuring program and temporarily lays off a large part of the staff. The measures are necessary to overcome the financial problems the company finds itself in.
On Thursday, Finnish media reported that smartphone and tablet maker Jolla is in financial trouble. On Friday, Jolla released a statement detailing the situation. According to co-founder and chairman Antti Saarnio, Jolla has already fought through many adversities and now faces another major challenge. According to his explanation, Sailfish OS is finished, but the development has cost a lot of time and money. He states that the company must now make the step from the development phase to a growth phase. This also means that the costs must be adapted to the new situation. In concrete terms, this means that Jolla will temporarily lay off some of its staff.
The company has entered into a debt restructuring program in Helsinki. That should give Jolla more time to sort out the finances for the future. According to Saarnio, Finland has very good corporate restructuring laws. Work can continue during the debt restructuring process. A new financing round has been postponed until the end of November. Jolla wants to earn money by selling licenses of its Sailfish OS to commercial parties. Saarnio says there are several large and small potential customers who are interested. The chairman says he is confident to make Jolla profitable.
Jolla was founded four years ago. The company raised $50 million through crowdfunding and investments to develop its own Sailfish OS mobile operating system, the Jolla Phone and Jolla Tablet. Many people who supported the campaign on Indiegogo are still waiting for their Jolla Tablet. In the new explanation, the company does not discuss the delivery thereof. In a message dated November 11, Jolla says it will send a load of the tablets to the backers at the end of this month, but when the last load of tablets will go out after that, the company could not yet say.