Sirin Labs, Maker of Finney Blockchain Phone Lays of One-quarter of its Workforce

Manufacturer of the popular Finney blockchain phone, Sirin Labs has recently revealed that it has fired 25 percent of its workforce. The firm reportedly laid off 15 of its 60 strong workforce.

The Finney Blockchain Phone

The lay off by the firm is in response to the poor sales of its flagship blockchain powered mobile phone. The firm stated that: “Sales are not what we expected, ”
Sirin Labs started shipping the Finney phones late last year. The phone is said to feature a cold (offline) crypto wallet which makes is a hardware wallet with a mobile phone feature. The mobile device is said to have a separate processor for both entries (wallet and phone). There are also two LCD screens on the device, one for the wallet and the bigger one for the mobile user.

Before announcing the laying off of its employees, there was a rumour going about that the firm has not been paying its workers over the past few months. This claim has been refuted by Sirin Labs. Furthermore, the firm noted that it has paid its employees their March Salaries and April’s payment is expected to come in by 23/04/2019 (Next Week Tuesday).

Stiff Competition for Sirin Labs’ Finney Phone

The increase in competition in the crypto wallet and mobile phone industry has been blamed for the slow sales of the Finney devices. The Isreal-based firm is currently facing competition from top mobile phone manufacturers like HTC, which recently launched its EXODUS 1 crypto focused phones in late 2018. The phone which was originally designed to be bought using crypto can now be bought with cash.

To make things even worse, Samsung, a leading mobile phone designer has included a crypto wallet to its latest Galaxy phone series, the Galaxy S10.

Although the wallet feature is currently only active in a few countries, the option is available for every user of the phone. So it is only a matter of time before it becomes available to everyone.