i-mate CEO says troubles linked to 'major fraud'

COMPANY FUTURE: i-mate's CEO said on Wednesday that the company's troubles were linked to a major fraud. (ITP Images)

The CEO of smart phone maker i-mate on Wednesday spoke out over the company's troubles in Dubai and insisted that the business and brand will continue to live on.

Employees at i-mate's Dubai operation were made aware of the company's financial plight earlier this month.

They were initially told to take compulsory unpaid leave, but last week i-mate's office in Dubai Internet City was closed and phones went unanswered.

Jim Morrison, who founded the device maker eight years ago, said the company had run into difficulties after uncovering a "major fraud" committed by a senior employee within the organisation.

Morrison said the fraud was discovered at the end of August and the case is now with the police.

"This all happened just before we were launching [a new device range]. We produced all the paperwork, we have the devices and so we have to sort this problem first," added Morrison.

He said the company was still committed to launching its new range of smart phone products and would offer new contracts to retailers if required.

Morrison said the situation had made it difficult for i-mate to pay staff on time and led to around 30 of its 40-strong workforce being laid off.

It is understood that some former employees are considering raising their dispute with local authorities, which Morrison admits would make it difficult for the company to do anything with its Dubai operation for now.

However, he insists that "everything about i-mate will continue".

He said: "We are keeping the brand, we are putting out products, and we will be looking for more funding of course. There is a lot of good stuff happening."

Morrison, who is currently in the UAE but is normally based in the US, said that it was still too early to say if the office in Dubai would eventually re-open.

However, he said the company still continues to operate in other markets around the world and would seek to maintain customer relationships in the region even if it meant serving the market from elsewhere.

i-mate is preparing to release a statement with further details this afternoon.

Print | Email | Discuss this article

| Share |

READERS' COMMENTS

SO I read the article again!
Posted by Angelo, Oud Metha, United Arab Emirates on Sunday 27 September 2009 at 08:31 UAE time


I had just finished reading the comments and thought - Did I miss something - I saw nothing regarding the credibility of the Equipment. I saw nothing about the I- Mate company ceasing to trade - What I did read however is that the local office has had to close because of "Fraud" that has affected their operations and is under Police Investigation and the fact this has come at a really bad time for the company since it is launching is new suite of applications. I hope the company continues to operate in Dubai and that the Police apprehend the miscreant who has jeopardized the livelihood the company's Dubai operation employee's and may the miscreant use his stay in the "Jumeirah Hilton" to reflect on his misdoings for many years

Its a shame
Posted by Anees, Dubai, United Arab Emirates on Thursday 24 September 2009 at 17:42 UAE time


Having been infected by a phone craze, and being a person who changes the mobile every 6 - 8 months and carrying an imate and an HTC everyday, I still feel there are areas an Imate is better than an HTC.. though its just rebranded. Design wise I prefer my HTC Tytn to the 9502 but Imate scores on robustness. I havent come across a PDA that perfomes so well in speaker phone mode than my 9502 & HTC Tytn definitely scores poor there and HTC HD though better is not a practical option for a frequent mail user due to the immensely poor battery life, not that the other brands give way higher. And for some reason, my HTC hangs way more frequent than the Imate. Is it that HTC cannot handle well once you install additional softwares? Imate is a breeze with the same ones. What impressed me the most? The I-Mate phone support. Ever tried calling? You would be amazed. More brands in the market is good news for innovation so lets hope they dont just die out this way atleast.

What Went Wrong?
Posted by Mikhael, Dubai, UAE on Thursday 24 September 2009 at 11:30 UAE time


As a formerly happy i-mate customer (I owned 4 devices, from PocketPCs to Smartphones), all I can say is that things started to go wrong when i-mate shifted (or had to shift) the platform supplier from HTC to another OEM.

really...
Posted by oz, dubai on Thursday 24 September 2009 at 10:32 UAE time


well, Ive always laughed at the fact that i-mates are just rebranded goods by other manufacturers such as HTM.... why do you always call them 'manufacturers'... ???

another one bites the dust...

and does anyone expect him to actually return.... hmmm ???

View all comments (5) >>

Click here to post a comment

Add your Comment All posts are sent to the administrator for review and are published only after approval. ArabianBusiness.com reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic. Arabian Business would like to point out that only comments relevant to the story will be published. Any containing personal insults or inappropriate language will not be approved.
Name *
Remember me on this computer
Email *	(Your email address will not be published)
City
Country
Subject *
Comment *
Notify me of further comments
Enter the words above *
Please click post only once - your comment will not be published immediately.

MORE FROM ARABIANBUSINESS.COM