VietNamNet Bridge - The vice president of the Bach Khoa Antivirus Center (BKAV), the inventor of the first made-in-Vietnam smartphone BPhone, said he plans to sell BPhone on the world market.

 

BKAV’s vice president Bach Thanh Le said the firm, joining hands with Qualcomm Group, is working with mobile network operators to launch BPhone in the US and India.

Le spoke at a meeting on August 26 with technology reporters to introduce BKAV’s production line in Hanoi. He said that a workshop would be organized in the US to introduce BPhone to mobile network operators.

“BKAV aims to become a global company and will bring its products to the world market,” Le said.

BKAV is also considering attending an international telecom exhibition in the US soon. It will work with mobile network operators in the country on distributing products in the market.

“We are also targeting Indian and Singaporean markets,” he said.

An analyst commented that BKAV was ‘overly ambitious’ trying to sell BPhone in the international market, where Samsung and Apple products dominate. 

“This is really a bold move,” he said. “It is highly possible that BKAV would not be welcomed, even though it has high quality, because BKAV and BPhone remain unfamiliar brands in the world market.”

Many Vietnamese have criticized BPhone and the manufacturer’s way of working on high-tech fan forums since it began selling the BPhone online June 2.

BPhone can be ordered on BKAV and Vala websites. BKAV charges shipping fees of VND200,000 for orders with deliveries not in Hanoi and HCM City.

However, some buyers said that though they are in in Hanoi and HCM City, they still have to pay shipping fees based on the number of ordered products. 

BKAV later explained that this was an error of the online sale system and that it will only charge fees based on the number of orders, not number of products.

However, the public said that BKAV was not professional. The words ‘Made in China’ found on the travel adapter raised questions, and “output 9V-1,7A” has higher amperage than the old standard one – 5V-1A – but it is not integrated with Qualcomm’s fast-charging technology.

Like Apple’s products, which bear the words “Designed by Apple and assembled in China” on their backs, BPhone shows the words “Designed by BKAV - Made in Vietnam”, which has raised curiosity. Vietnamese people don’t believe that Vietnamese technologies are advanced enough to create such high-technology products like smartphones.

Meanwhile, many others believe although BPhone has some disadvantages, it is an admirable product. 

CEO of Viettel Nguyen Manh Hung said he appreciated BKAV’s time spent on research and development of high-tech products.

Dat Viet