What just happened? Bullitt Group, the British handset maker that produced the rugged Cat phones that often packed unique and unusual features, has gone out of business. The company also made similarly durable devices carrying the Land Rover and Motorola brand names, though in recent times it has been pivoting towards its satellite connectivity business.

Earlier this month, The Telegraph wrote that Bullitt Group, Britain's top smartphone maker, was on the brink of collapse as it struggled to compete with the likes of Apple and Samsung. The company told the publication that its satellite connectivity business and all of its 100 employees would be transferred to a new company owned by its creditors; however, Mobile World Live spotted a number of ex-employees who wrote on LinkedIn that the entire workforce had been laid off.

The LinkedIn posts state that Bullitt Group folded on January 26 after a "critical planned restructuring" failed.

Bullitt's Cat (or Caterpillar) phones from a few years ago came with several memorable features. The Cat S41 had a 5,000mAh battery that doubled as a power bank that could be shared with other devices. The Caterpillar S60 was revealed in 2016 as the world's first smartphone with an integrated thermal imaging camera, made by Flir. More recently, the Cat S42 H+, which arrived during the height of Covid times, boasted antimicrobial silver ion technology built into the phone's body during manufacturing, making it the first fully antibacterial handset, apparently.

Bullitt was also behind the Land Rover Explore, Motorola Defy series, and Kodak Ektra (below), to name a few. The company started focusing more on its satellite messaging service two years ago, hoping to license the technology and service to mobile network operators, other manufacturers, enterprise customers as well as the government and military.

One of Bullitt's more recent devices to make headlines was the Motorola Defy Satellite Link, a Motorola-branded Bluetooth keychain accessory that enabled almost any smartphone to send and receive text messages in places without cellular signals.

Most people are unlikely to notice Bullitt's absence, but one fewer player in the smartphone market, no matter its size, is never good for consumers, especially fans of rugged, unique handsets.