Israeli Internet company Conduit is closing down its smartphone lock screen division and firing some of its employees. News of the closure comes after "Globes" revealed last Wednesday that Conduit was closing down its browser division and firing about 10 employees. The division, called First, was developing a smartphone lock screen that allowed updates and news but the closure comes after attempts to sell the division to another company did not bear fruit.
Director of the First Division Yaron Moradi wrote to employees, "The company's management and board have agreed to focus the company's operations on one activity and therefore ultimately, to my regret, it has been decided to close First. In recent months, there were attempts to sell First, and there was recently a major dialogue with a company that expressed the desire to acquire the activities, but it did not lead to a sale for technical reasons."
The Division was launched 30 months ago and has worked with dozens of Israeli and international content sites to develop a white label for them, which would allow them to integrate a locked screen into a smartphone under the site's brand. For example, in Israel Conduit worked with sites like Mako and ynet, and users who would have installed the lock screen would have received new updates on their mobile phone without needing to enter the app itself.
Moradi hinted that the decision to close the division was not what he wanted, "Personally, even though my opinion about the potential of First and its achievements are known, I respect Conduit's decision and am grateful for the opportunity given to me."
Conduit said, "The company has taken a strategic decision to close its First operations and focus on one activity.
Conduit will focus on operations in the Como division, which allow a mobile app to be created relatively simply and swiftly, which is the main area that we see as the channel for company growth. We will now concentrate our efforts 100% on the Como activities, which have already proven their success. Just as we offered the U division staff, we also offered some of the First team members to stay on and take part in the Como division activities. At the same time, we are hiring employees and investing all our resources in the product."
The Como division's product allows a mobile app to be created relatively simply and swiftly.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 7, 2014
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