(Credit: Cat phones)
British phone manufacturer Bullitt Group reportedly shut down on Jan. 26 after reports swirled earlier this month that the company was insolvent.
Ted Warren, a former accounts receivable supervisor at Bullitt, announced on LinkedIn this week that it had been "a difficult couple of months" and that the entire Bullitt Group has gone under. Numerous other Bullitt employees have similarly announced that the Caterpillar and Land Rover phone maker has shut down, Mobile World Live reported.
A quick search for affiliated Bullitt employees on LinkedIn shows that at least 22 accounts that have Bullitt listed as their employer are now "open to work," a LinkedIn label typically used to indicate that the user does not currently have a job. According to the profile of Bullitt's Head of Channel Marketing, Steve Morgan, the company had over 200 employees at one point.
It's possible Bullitt has laid off its customer service teams as well, as multiple attempts to contact Bullitt's US customer service by phone now go straight to voicemail. Its X account has not made a new post or reply since December.
In 2022, Bullitt tried to "pivot away from hardware" toward its satellite offering, a rep previously told The Telegraph. Bullitt also made the Motorola Defy satellite link, a clip-on device that enables satellite messaging for any smartphone.
In early January, The Telegraph reported that Bullitt had planned to transfer its satellite service business and its employees, apparently separate from its heavy-duty mobile hardware business, to a new company. One former Bullitt employee, Tim Shepherd, wrote that he was let go from his product marketing position because Bullitt was unable to move forward with a "critical planned restructuring," suggesting a new company is unlikely at this point.
PCMag previously reviewed Bullitt's early Caterpillar phones, such as the Cat S60 and the Cat S40. The Cat S61 had a few quirky features, like its ability to measure air quality. Bullitt released the first rugged Cat phone back in 2012.
Bullitt has not yet released a statement on the reports of its closure, and PCMag has reached out to the company for comment.
While Bullitt may be no more, there are other rugged smartphone devices out there. From Samsung's XCover7 to the Sonim XP10 and the Kyocera DuraForce Pro 3, buyers looking for something with impact durability and water resistance still have a few different options to choose from.