Razer sees niche in smartphone for hardcore gamers, aims to raise cash through IPO

Razer is one of those brands that just keeps on giving. The gaming-oriented computer brand, after making cutting-edge masterpieces of gaming systems and accessories is now on the verge of creating its first smartphone, which will be catered to gamers.

The company had acquired the smartphone maker Nextbit earlier this year. The Nexbit was known for its Robin smartphone that was based on cloud-storage and had decent specifications at best. Razer is planning to expand on Nextbit’s resources and develop a gamer-oriented smartphone, and judging by that tag, we will be able to expect a lot of power from the phone. The company may also develop its own SoC or use the latest most powerful Snapdragon currently in the market. In any case, Razer will join Nokia and Sony in creating gaming-oriented smartphones. In the current landscape however, even regular Android smartphones can now play intensive games, so Razer will have to have good reasoning for developing its smartphone.

In order to fund the production process and to get the ball rolling, the company is looking to target an initial public offering of $5 billion in Hong Kong. The company is also set to make its own form of currency called ZGold as well as building a platform to connect over 35 million gamers to games through the platform.

According to Ubergizmo, Razer’s CEO Min-Liang revealed that he does not see any current mobile or software platform that can fulfill the needs of the mobile gamer and that it was now time to disrupt the mobile market with something that can offer gaming-oriented services. While the company’s plans and details about their upcoming smartphone are not available currently, it can be expected to have flagship-grade specifications. The company will want to make full use of its Nextbit acquisition for a smartphone that can take on the current generation of smartphones.

It can be speculated that the phone made by Razer could well be made for the Android Operating System since it has the most number of titles and graphic intensive games, next to the iOS, whose gaming library and performance on the latest iPhones is nothing short of sublime. Razer will, however, need to do more than just make a smartphone that plays game since there are already more than enough players on the market that can do just that. The company will have to look at other features that can make it stand out among the crowd. With OnePlus, Xiaomi and now Nokia all disrupting the smartphone scene with their own flagships that are no lesser than the more expensive and established brands, Razer has its work cut out for itself.

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