Yellow Machine creator in liquidation

US-based Anthology Solutions, the maker of the popular Yellow Machine, has gone into liquidation.

Anthology Solutions - a privately held company incorporated in 2000 - was led by Ray Robidoux, former president of Netgear US.

The company posted a notice on its website forum to notify users that it had closed down permanently as of 15 September.

The “technical Support department will also be shutting down, and no further support is available from Anthology”, the post said.

John Robinson, country manager for Australia and New Zealand at Anthology, said the company’s closure was related to funding issues.

“The product was doing well and was getting good traction in the US and locally. However, there were issues relating to funding, management needed funding to bring the company through the year and they just couldn’t do it any longer.

“No trustees have been appointed, however a formal announcement will be made about an appointment in the following week,” he said.

Robinson said Anthology had "done the right thing by him and paid him what he is owed."

Is it unclear whether there was an interested parties looking to purchase the company's intellectual property, Robinson said.

Local Antholology distributors were dissapointed about the closure.

Leigh Mutimer, managing director at Tecksel, said the news of the company’s closure came as a shock.

“When I got news on the weekend about the Anthology, I was disappointed because the Yellow Machine was a good product and was gaining a lot of momentum,” he said.

“We have still some stock as do other distributors and I don’t see us having any problems selling the remaining products,” he said.

BMS Technology, a sub-distributor of Tecksel, recently signed to distributor Yellow Machine.

In the seven weeks it had been involved with Anthology, it sold 20 units and had two left, said Anthony Szabo, general manager at BMS Technology.

“We only bought products when we needed them and we don’t have much stock to move. When we first brought the product out it generated a bit of interest and the users liked the machine’s performance,” he said.

“I was quite surprised because there were no hints on any issues and I don’t think Robinson [knew] either.”

Tecksel and BMS said they would keep warranties in place for the next 12 months.

Other Yellow Machine distributors include Cradle Technolgy, Austeq and J Mills Distribution.