Gizmondo lost £140 million in just 9 months

More details surface over Gizmondo losses

21 February 2006 19:43 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Following our reporting on “Gizmondo Europe goes into liquidation” earlier in the month, more details have come to light as to just how much trouble the games company got itself into.

According to the Begbies Traynor and David Rubin & Partners, joint liquidators of Gizmondo Europe Limited, a subsidiary of US-listed company Tiger Telematics, the company made net losses estimated at around £140 million in the 9-month period to September 2005 on sales of £1.4 million.

The company had previously lost £49 million on turnover of £400k in the year ended 31 December 2004.

On 2 February, the court appointed two separate firms of liquidators. David Rubin and Asher Miller from David Rubin and Partners are responsible for liaising with the creditors and for realising the value of Gizmondo's assets, while Paul Davis and Tim Dolder, liquidators at Begbies Traynor, will be conducting an investigation into the causes of the company's collapse and extent of the losses.

Gizmondo Europe Limited was incorporated in December 2002, and until its recent liquidation, employed 27 staff at its head office in Farnborough, Hampshire, and five at its Regent Street store in central London, which opened in March 2005. All staff have been made redundant.

The Gizmondo unit retailed at around £130 for the basic model.

However, fierce competition in the games console market, coupled with sharply escalating costs and unexpected delays to the product's US launch, led ultimately to the insolvency of Gizmondo Europe Limited.