We don’t like to report about companies shutting down, productions being halted, or even as simple as projects being discontinued. We’ve heard numerous ones already but the latest one is really heartbreaking, at least, for those who earlier gave their support—the ZTE Hawkeye is no more. The Project CSX has been cancelled on Kickstarter and ZTE recently made a sad announcement that they are phasing out the campaign.
To give you a summary, ZTE USA began crowdsourcing their next mobile phone with Project CSX back in August. Entries were submitted and then narrowed down to five after a couple of months. The Hawkeye won and excited a lot of people as an eye-tracking device and self-adhesive phone. It was officially announced as the first crowdsourced smartphone and we were told it was almost ready.
We were hopeful about the Hawkeye phone but unfortunately, it received lukewarm reception and so ZTE started to reconsider it and even thought of upgrading the specs to become a high-end phone instead. Well, one of our fears happened as the Project CSX phone is now canceled.
Last Friday, ZTE posted a public service announcement that the project is being phased out after hearing the feedback of the people on their Z-Community forum and Kickstarter. It was a tough choice to make but they decided to stop the campaign. They’re saying though the project isn’t really over as the device is still being reevaluated. The project will be implemented based on the feedback of the people but right now, it is considered canceled on Kickstarter.
ZTE is returning all the pledges. Refunds will be given to those who first supported and believed in the Project. The Kickstarter page will still be up but will serve as a community board for the Hawkeye. ZTE is still hoping that the project will become a reality and the people’s request for higher specs is being reconsidered at the moment. However, the team will have to push back production and release date. Right now, it’s the wisest thing to do instead of promising and not being able to keep it.
What can you say about this move? Any thoughts?
SOURCE: ZTE, Kickstarter
