 | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1998[1] |
| Founder | Hugh Brogan[2] |
| Defunct | 29 June 2005 (2005-06-29) |
| Headquarters | |
Key people | Hugh Brogan (CEO), Justin Small (UX Design Lead),Robert Pocknell (Group General Counsel)[4] |
Number of employees | 300[1] |
Sendo was a British manufacturer and supplier ofmobile phones founded in 1998 and based inBirmingham.[1] It specialised in low-cost handsets aimed primarily at thepay-as-you-go markets and also high-endSymbian smartphones.[5]
The company wentinto administration in 2005 and its technology was bought byMotorola.[6]
Sendo was created in 1998 by mobile phone experts fromPhilips and Motorola.[1] In February 2001,Microsoft announced a partnership, in which Microsoft bought $12m of Sendo shares (10%[1]) and a seat on the board.[citation needed] Sendo was to be Microsoft's "go to market partner" for the Stinger smartphone platform that becameSmartphone 2002.
Microsoft was to deliver code for theStingerOS by June and the first prototype, theSendo Z100, was delivered.[7] Sendo manage to ship anSDK,[8] but by December not enough code had been delivered by Microsoft and, without any products to sell, Sendo couldn't raise any money from sales or venture capitalists. Sendo dropped Microsoft[9] and opted to go with Symbian[10] but eventually went bankrupt.
Under the deal, if Sendo was declared insolvent "Microsoft would obtain an irrevocable, royalty free licence to use Sendo's Z100 intellectual property, including rights to make, use, or copy the Sendo Smartphone to create other Smartphones and to, most importantly for Microsoft, sublicense those rights to third parties." A product based on the Sendo Z100 was released while Sendo was still solvent by Orange as theOrange SPV 100,[11] manufactured byHTC as theHTC Canary, the firstWindows Mobile smartphone.
As a consequence Sendo sued Microsoft in December 2002, alleging it stole proprietary technology and trade secrets and gave these to HTC enabling HTC and itself to launch into the mobile phone market.[12]
Microsoft denied the allegations and in February 2003 filed a counter suit alleging breach of contract. A trial was scheduled for early 2005 but an out of court settlement was reached in September 2004, in which there was a "monetary component" and Microsoft giving up its stake of Sendo.[13] In June 2006 Sendo then suedOrange.[11]
In September 2003, Microsoft and Sendo dropped their suits and announced that Microsoft had given up its shares in Sendo.[4]
In 2004, Sendo sold 5 million devices[2] and, along with other major mobile phone manufacturer, showed interest in usingNvidia'sGoForce graphic chips.[14]
In March 2005, Sendo made an objection to theEuropean Commission regardingEricsson and their patent and licence management after being sued.[15]
Sendo went into administration in June 2005 and its technology was bought byMotorola.[6] At the time Motorola took over the developers and their patents, they held 50 valid patents and had 40 waiting for approval.[14]