Nextbit
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
Some sections are still being researched1 / 4
Sections to complete：02
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
Nextbit Systems was a San Francisco smartphone startup founded by former Google Android team members Tom Moss and Mike Chan. Its product, the Nextbit Robin, was marketed as a 'cloud-first' phone: unused apps and data were automatically offloaded to 100GB of cloud storage to free local space. The phone launched on Kickstarter on September 1, 2015, hitting its $500,000 goal in 12 hours and $1 million within two weeks, and shipped in February 2016. In January 2017 Razer acquired Nextbit; Robin sales halted immediately, and its cloud service was shut down in March 2018.
02 / FAILURE REASONS
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Kickstarter launch
On September 1, 2015, Nextbit launched the Robin on Kickstarter, reaching its $500,000 goal in 12 hours and $1 million within two weeks.
- Robin ships
In February 2016 the first 1,000 GSM units shipped to Kickstarter backers, with another 2,300 sold through the company's website.
- Acquired by Razer
In January 2017 Razer acquired Nextbit as an independent division; Robin sales were halted almost immediately.
- Cloud service ends
On March 1, 2018, Nextbit shut down the Robin's cloud storage feature, ending the phone's defining capability.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN
How the factors connect
- 01
In January 2017 Razer acquired Nextbit Systems; the Robin was discontinued and sales halted immediately, with Nextbit operating as a standalone Razer division.
- 02
Customer support for the Robin ended in August 2017, software updates continued through February 2018, and the cloud storage feature was shut down on March 1, 2018; Razer released the Robin-based Razer Phone in November 2017.