Razer, maker of high end gaming peripherals, announced the acquisition of Nextbit Systems, maker of the Nextbit Robin Smartphone.
The announcement came in a press release. Razer, a company known for their high end peripherals including mice, keyboards and headsets, yet Razer has been making some smart and interesting moves into the Android space. Now with the purchase of Nextbit Systems, along with the purchase of the Ouya brand in 2015, the company is now well setup to tap into the lucrative android market.
“Nextbit is one of the most exciting companies in the mobile space,” says Razer Co-Founder and CEO Min-Liang Tan. “Razer has a track record of disrupting industries where our technology and ability to design and innovate have allowed us to dominate categories with longstanding incumbents, such as the peripherals and laptop categories. With the talent that Nextbit brings to Razer, we look forward to unleashing more disruption and growing our business in new areas”
While there is no clear word on what Razer has planned for the fledgling smartphone maker, as of right now Razer has stated they are looking to keep things as they are. Nextbit will cease sales of the Robin Smartphone, but will support the platform and software for the next six months.
“In order to reach a wider audience and continue our mission, we decided to join with a larger brand,” says Tom Moss, Nextbit Systems Inc. co-founder and CEO. “We’re lucky to have found a company in Razer that shares our value of pushing the boundaries of what our devices can do.”
It is unclear if Razer is interested in making the leap into the smartphone world, while the company has focused on their game market first, the mobile space is one that has potential for growth. That being said, major players such as HTC, and LG have had issues cracking the numbers seen by Samsung or Apple, so it is hard to see if Razer will have a better chance at attracting new customers.
