OSOM, a company established by former employees of Essential Inc., is closing its doors after launching just one phone. Much like Essential, OSOM’s journey in the smartphone industry has been very brief.
According to reports, the closure decision was made during an executive meeting on Tuesday. The majority of OSOM employees will be terminated by Friday, with a select few remaining to complete a security update for the Solana Saga, the company’s only smartphone. Those let go have been informed they will receive severance packages.
The trouble for OSOM reportedly began when Solana decided against continuing the partnership for a successor to the Solana Saga, originally planned to be the OSOM OV1. With its key partnership gone, OSOM switched gears to develop an AI-powered camera, but this venture also did not succeed. The company was supposedly in discussions for an acquisition by HP, which ultimately fell through. The shutdown suggests that OSOM has exhausted its financial resources.
Just last week, a lawsuit was filed by a former employee against the company, alleging CEO Jason Keats misused company funds for personal expenses. Although a company spokesperson denied these “outlandish allegations” and pledged to contest them in court, the company’s closure adds weight to the claims.
Established in 2020, OSOM’s brief existence yielded only two products: the Solana Saga smartphone and the OSOM Privacy Cable, available for $29.99 on Amazon. The Solana Saga, initially teased as the OSOM OV1, was supposed to follow in the footsteps of the Essential Phone. Announced in March 2022 and finally launched in May 2023, it featured web-3 capabilities, a last-generation processor, and a $1,000 price tag.
In comparison, Essential Inc. managed to introduce a few more products during its short tenure, including the Essential Phone, the Essential Audio Adapter, and the Essential 360 Camera, the latter two of which could magnetically attach to the phone’s back.
The journey of OSOM serves as a cautionary tale in the highly competitive tech industry, highlighting the challenges startups face in sustaining operations without consistent financial support and successful product launches.
