Earlier today, we got some exciting Razer news when we learned that the Razer Phone 2 will begin getting its Android Pie update next week. Now that's been followed up with some not-so-great news.
Razer recently announced that it's shutting down its Razer Game Store "as part of the company's realignment plans," and today Droid-Life received an anonymous tip that Razer had also laid off the "majority" of its mobile device and hardware engineer workers last Friday. Some employees are still working on the final Razer Phone 2 updates, the report says, but the Razer Phone 3 has been canned.
When asked about this rumor, Razer didn't exactly offer a straight-up denial. "Razer has made changes to realign our organization and strengthen our path to growth. We will centralize our resources to focus on key projects and improve our profitability," the company said when asked about layoffs in its mobile division. "As part of the realignment, we shut down several projects and unfortunately had to part ways with about 30 employees (about 2% of our total workforce). Other employees of the affected projects will be moved to different parts of Razer to work on other key focus projects and initiatives which will continue to scale and hire."
Razer then followed up with another statement offering more info on the status of its mobile division. "In our mobile division, there were some staff members who were let go, and others who were reassigned to other new projects. We see great opportunities in the mobile gaming space that we created with the Razer Phone and will continue to invest in this category through a combination of hardware and software initiatives," Razer explained. "We are working on new exciting mobile projects and will share the news when we are ready. The Razer Phone 2 will continue to be on sale and we are committed to supporting it with the latest updates and features."
The Razer Phone and Razer Phone 2 have been solid devices, especially for folks interested in gaming in general and mobile gaming in particular. That said, the original Razer Phone was only sold unlocked, and the Razer Phone 2 only came to AT&T in the U.S. shortly after the unlocked model launched. We don't know exactly how well either model sold, but most U.S. consumers tend to buy their phones from their carrier, so it can be tough for an unlocked phone to enjoy strong sales. For now, the status of the Razer Phone 3 remains unclear.
Have you ever used the Razer Phone or Razer Phone 2? Would you like to see a Razer Phone 3 come to market?