One of the long-running Linux PC firm ZaReason has recently ended its business after being hit by the pandemic. After 12 years of operation, the company closed on 24 November 2020 announcing the news of closure on its official website.
Independently operating ZaReason could not survive COVID-19
ZaReason was an indie operation and it sold OEM devices with Linux preinstalled. If you are not aware, OEM is a company that produces parts and equipment that may be marketed by another manufacturer. ZaReason sold such devices with their own branding and Linux on it.
Based out of California, ZaReason was one of the oldest vendors providing computers preinstalled with Linux. The company mostly sold mini Linux PCs, Laptops, Desktops and Linux server products. The company was valued by its customers for fair built quality and the option to choose from various Linux distributions.
The company had recently shifted from California to a small commercial area in the US state of Michigan. ZaReason was already struggling with business due to its limited reach. The COVID-19 pandemic has hit hard on the local economy making the situation worse for ZaReason. Official website of the company notified that COVID pandemic and component shortage were the top reasons for its closure.
No more customer care or warranty service anymore, of course
The company ended all customer care services. This means that ZaReason will no longer provide warranty services to its products. However, if you own any ZaReason product, there are alternative ways to receive help. This includes online forums and Linux support groups.
As manufacturing warranty is no longer covered, the company advised its customers to reach out to manufacturers like Sager, Nvidia or similar manufactures to check whether those companies honour manufacturer’s warranty.
Though Linux on desktop is a super small niche, lately there have been several companies providing Linux systems. On top of that, Major PC manufacturers like Dell, Acer and Lenovo are also launching their hardware pre-loaded with Linux distributions. All this makes business difficult specially for small firms like ZaReason.
I never used ZaReason products, but I am sorry to see its demise. Were you a customer of ZaReason? How was your experience with it? What’s your overall feeling on this incident?
Written by Arish V. and edited by Abhishek Prakash.
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