For quite some time, analysts have speculated about the demise of the Crunchpad for various reasons, but it was only two weeks ago when Michael Arrington surfaced to indicate that the Crunchpad tablet computer was still on track for a product launch in late November with a price range of $300-$400.
However, things have changed since that announcement as we get word that the Crunchpad will not launch. According to Arrington, the failure to launch can be directly attributed to “greed, jealousy and miscommunication” on the part of his business partners. The story goes as follows. Fusion Garage had been contracted to build the Crunchpad, but three days prior to launch, Fusion Garage notified Arrington that they were no longer interested in a joint venture. Rather, they would market the product themselves and keep Arrington on in an advisory role.
“This is the equivalent of Foxconn, who build the iPhone, notifying Apple a couple of days before launch that they’d be moving ahead and selling the iPhone directly without any involvement from Apple,” Arrington wrote.
This will be a legal mess for the courts to resolve, but as it stands, the Crunchpad is no more.
