Sierra Wireless gets sued over Voq Professional Phone
Sierra Wireless's first stab at a Windows Mobile-powered smartphone, the Voq Professional Phone, was pretty much doomed from the start—the design was awful, Sierra had zero experience in marketing handsets, and they were never able to convince a single wireless carrier to offer the phone to its subscribers (which for better or for worse is how most phones get sold in the US). As if publicly fumbling the product launch and losing lots of money weren't already punishment enough, now Sierra is getting sued over the Voq—and not by disgruntled customers, either (there's very little evidence of anyone ever buying the phone).
It's not clear whether they have any actual shareholders on board yet (or at least any willing to serve as lead plaintiff), but a law firm in New York has filed a class action shareholders suit against Sierra alleging that the company's introduction of the Voq was so bungled and incompetent that they violated their responsibilities to shareholders. Among their complaints: That Sierra made false statements and failed to disclose "material adverse facts" regarding the phone; that their strategy "to correct its deficiency in technology as compared to its competitors by introducing the Voq Smartphone was flawed and its business model was not working;" and that deciding to market their own handsets ended up damaging their relationship with palmOne (Sierra supplied wireless components for the Treo 600).
