Visual Fan, based in Brasov (central Romania), which posted EUR2.2 million sales last year, launched its first dual-SIM smartphone running the Google Android operating system. The dual-SIM smartphone ships with Android 2.2, has a 3.5″ capacitative multi-touch screen, is WiFi-, GPRS- and EDGE-enabled, and has GPS. The phone comes with a 5MP camera with autofocus and built-in flash and can record 720×480-pixel video at 30 frames per second. The price of the phone is 649 lei (EUR151).
“We try to keep up with the latest technology trends,” says Lucian Peticila, general manager of Visual Fan. The company’s products are usually assembled in China and the processors are made in Taiwan, “like the iPhone” as Allview’s boss says. The company has recently launched a 13.3″ notebook powered by an Intel Atom processor at a price of RON1099 (EUR255). “We tested the market for a year to arrive at this configuration: it does not have too large a screen to make it difficult to carry, nor too small to be difficult to use. We believe it’s a competitively-priced product,” Lucian Peticila told ZF. Visual Fan plans to launch a dual-core processor powered notebook and also sells tablet PCs, GPS systems and TV sets under its own brand.
Televoice, a company controlled by Liviu Nistoran, on Monday announced it would introduce a notebook under its own brand, which will weigh less than 1 kilo and come with an 11.6″ screen. The notebook, called Evolio U9, includes an Intel Dual Core Cedarview at 1.6GHz, 2GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD drive. It also comes with a 1.3 mega pixel camera, USB and HDMI ports, Bluetooth and WiFi.
Evolio says this computer, which it touts as “the lightest in the world,” will be available in stores at a price of EUR450, VAT included, as of December. Why would a Romanian customer spend this money on a notebook sold by a local company over an HP, a Dell or a Lenovo? “Because the price for this configuration and these technologies is lower than the competitors’ prices. It’s a big market and we believe there’s room for a Romanian brand,” believes Liviu Nistoran, who expects to sell 3,000 units in the first six months.
Televoice posted EUR1.6 million revenue last year.
(English version by Loredana Frățilă-Cristescu)