Tiger Telematics
 |
|
| Fate | Bankrupt |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2000 (as Eagle Eye Scandinavian) Sweden |
| Defunct | February 2006 |
| Website | web |
Tiger Telematics, or Tiger, was a Swedish electronics company, best known for the failed Gizmondo handheld game console.
In 2000, Carl Freer formed Eagle Eye Scandinavian, a small electronics distribution business in Sweden. In 2002 the company merged with Floor Décor, a carpet retailer based in Jacksonville, Florida. Once that was completed, Floor Décor's Michael Carrender became the company's chief financial officer.
The merged company soon renamed itself Tiger Telematics Inc. with a new ticker symbol "TIGR". It made an attempt to take on Sony and Nintendo in the UK gaming market and relocated at an office near Farnborough Airfield. Stefan Eriksson, who Freer had met during a previous business visit, was brought into the company with Peter Uf and Johan Enander.
The Gizmondo device made its debut as a concept product at the German CeBIT show in March 2004, when its European subsidiary was then known as Gametrac Europe before renaming itself as Gizmondo Europe.
The company became known for its extravagant spending, despite not yet making a profit, let alone getting the Gizmondo off the ground. It counts amongst its exploits buying out model agency ISIS, and leasing a shop in Regent Street in London as its flagship showroom at a cost of £175,000 per annum. Despite the losses, Tiger Telematics gained continuing funding, including $73.1m worth of investment capital during 2005, and it issued some 24.7m shares which brought in over $200m.
The showroom also ran a launch party at the Park Lane Hotel and its own store, sparing no expense. The party was hosted by Dannii Minogue and Tom Green, with performances by Sting, Pharrell, Busta Rhymes and Jamiroquai. Sting was rumored to be paid £750,000 for the performance. In an attempt to promote the product, Eriksson competed at the 24 hours of Le Mans in the Gizmondo-sponsored Ferrari 360 Modena GTC in 2005, but retired in the morning with mechanical troubles.
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