Razer has faced a dramatic end to CES 2017, and the company is looking at its competitors as potential suspects. According to a post by CEO Min-Liang Tan, two Razer prototypes were stolen from the company’s booth at CES.
The Facebook post, which was shared at 2:09am ET on Jan. 9, reveals that Razer is serious about bringing the culprits to justice amidst a stressful end to Sunday’s events. Tan isn’t ruling out the concept of “industrial espionage,” either, as made evident by his post.
“At Razer, we play hard and we play fair. Our teams worked months on end to conceptualize and develop these units and we pride ourselves in pushing the envelope to deliver the latest and greatest,” Tan said. “We treat theft/larceny, and if relevant to this case, industrial espionage, very seriously – it is cheating, and cheating doesn’t sit well with us. Penalties for such crimes are grievous and anyone who would do this clearly isn’t very smart.”
Tan also confirmed that Razer is cooperating with show management and law enforcement to address the issue. The company is asking anyone who can “provide us any information” to reach out to Razer’s legal department, noting that “all information provided will be kept int he strictest of confidence.”
As of yet, it’s hard to say for certain what prototypes were stolen from Razer at CES. Engadget noted that Razer’s new Chroma projector and three-screened laptop, entitled Project Ariana and Project Valerie, respectively, were two of the biggest parts of Razer’s presence, but Razer has not yet disclosed if these projects were part of the theft. The site also points out that Razer previously saw two experimental Blade prototypes stolen from Razer’s R&D lab in 2011, suggesting that theft of one form or another is not uncommon for Razer to experience. Check back as more information develops over the coming weeks ahead.
