San Francisco-based consumer electronics company Jawbone hasn’t been in the best of shape lately, considering rumors that the company was looking to sell, and considering the legal issues that the company has had with competitor Fitbit. To make matters worse, the former tech industry darling has recently been making a lot of headlines for all the wrong reasons as reports of the company’s failure to make payments to vendors began surfacing, Business Insider reports.
Exactly two weeks ago, Jawbone abruptly severed its relationship with the Portland customer service agency NexRep without paying it an undisclosed amount of money. While unaware of the exact amount, sources with an intimate knowledge of the matter claim that the said debt to NexRep was significant enough that the agency was forced to cut jobs. Back then, the San Francisco company described the sacking of NexRep as the first step in the process of restructuring its customer service and claimed that its accounting is reviewing the outstanding debt to NexRep. As reported by Business Insider, a source from NexRep now claims that it’s unlikely Jawbone will settle its bills anytime soon as they’ve asserted that the California firm isn’t even liquid enough to keep its inventory stocked. Whether or not this is true is unclear, but Jawbone’s website does display that every tracker they offer is currently sold out.
The aforementioned source from NexRep also disclosed that immediately prior to being fired by Jawbone, the agency had issues with replacing its client’s faulty and damaged devices for customers as product shipments have basically stopped in early September. The wearable manufacturer is yet to release a new fitness tracker this year and if these reports are to be believed, a new fitness tracker for 2016 may not happen. Jawbone is also currently involved in two legal battles with Fitbit over patents and trade secrets and given the aforementioned inventory woes, it might be more challenging for the California firm to find methods of generating revenue. While Jawbone’s representatives have already dismissed any possibility of a sale back in April, a subsequent report that surfaced last month suggests that option is now on the table as the company’s attempts to raise additional funding have not come to pass.