UK Smartphone Maker Wileyfox Enters Administration

British smartphone manufacturer Wileyfox has entered administration, becoming the latest casualty of intense competition in the Android market.

The company debuted in 2015 with two sub-£200 handsets powered by the Android-based Cyanogen mobile operating system called the Swift and Storm. These were followed by a third handset called the Spark in 2016 and the Wileyfox Swift 2 in 2017.

Central to Wileyfox’s appeal was quality for an affordable price, but the Android space is dominated by household names like Samsung and Chinese manufacturers such as Huawei, making it difficult to carve out any meaningful share.

Wileyfox administration

“Wileyfox Europe Limited is in Administration,” confirmed a community spokesperson on Reddit. “Andrew Andronikou and Andrew Hosking are appointed joint administrators and act jointly and severely without personal liability.

“As of now I no longer work for Wileyfox, I will still try to provide some support for you but it will no longer be official. I’m afraid I won’t be able to answer such questions as ‘What will happen to my phone that’s off for repair’ [sic]. I will try to answer what questions I can that you ask but I don’t have many nor can I provide many answers.”

Kazam was another British smartphone manufacturer that attempted to crack the market. Launched in 2013 by two former HTC employees, the firm launched several devices but failed to make any meaningful impact. As of February 2018, its website was not accessible.

Quiz: What do you know about the smartphones of 2016