Nextbit Robin For Verizon And Sprint Cancelled

There’s some bad news today for the people who’ve backed Nextbit’s Robin smartphone. The company has previously delayed the CDMA version of this smartphone by a couple of months and today it has announced that this particular version won’t be coming after all, this means that the Nextbit Robin for Verizon and Sprint is no more.

Nextbit CEO Tom Moss has confirmed the company’s decision to axe the CDMA version in a letter to backers. Moss says that the last thing the company wants to do is “disappoint” its supports but, unfortunately, it’s having to do that today.

Fan support compelled Nextbit to add the CDMA version during the Robin’s Kickstarter campaign. The company didn’t quite realize that CDMA certification would be a long and costly affair, they were under the impression that it would cost thousands to dollars to achieve but that ended up being in the millions of dollars, and Moss says that “the goal posts are still being moved.”

Now that Nextbit has decided it won’t be shipping a CDMA version of the Robin, it’s going to give everyone who pledged money for a CDMA version a full and complete refund within the next 48 hours. Kickstarter backers will get the entire cost of the device aside from any extra they were charged for accessories, shipping, etc. Customers who pre-ordered this handset haven’t been charged yet and they won’t be.

Aside from apologizing for this decision, Moss also writes that all CDMA backers will get a 25% discount code which can be put towards the purchase of the GSM version of Nextbit Robin.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: Cellphones
Tags: nextbit, nextbit robin