VietNamNet Bridge – Though information about BKAV’s smartphone is still secret, the manufacturer has been criticised by hi-tech product fans, who doubt that a Vietnamese anti-virus company can make a good smartphone product.

Bach Khoa Anti-virus Group (BKAV) introduced its smartphone model at CES, an exhibition in the US in early January. It has become a hot topic for ridicule on some technology forums.

Few people believe that a Vietnamese company, and in this case, an internet security firm with no experience in smartphones, can make a high-end smartphone.

There are nearly 100 pages of comments from members of a forum about BKAV’s smartphone which have attracted hundreds of thousands of readers.

“I felt disappointed completely when I saw the four screws in the face of the phone set,” commented Thuyen Q10 on Tinhte forum.

However, an expert said that Thuyen Q10 had made a hasty comment. He said the four screws the forum’s member saw were used to fix the box containing the smartphone.  

The phone set was put inside the box when it was displayed at CES, because BKAV tried to keep everything confidential and avoid showing the smartphone design.

“I guess the smartphone will be exactly the same as the iPhone 4S, Xperia Z and Nexus 4 with two faces of glass,” another member wrote.

Some members of the same forum also think that BKAV would be an “imitation product” copying well-known smartphone models.

“I cannot understand why the power key is on the left,” “the back face of the smartphone is so similar to iPhone 4”, or “This is clearly a copy of iPhone 4 design” are among the comments seen on the forum.

Meanwhile, BKAV, the manufacturer, said that it is too early to comment about the new product because no one knows anything about it so far.

An analyst also said that the device displayed by BKAV at the exhibition was just a product used to operate SmartHome, another well-known product of BKAV, while the commercial smartphone version would only hit the market in several months.

BPhone, the name of the smartphone, as described by BKAV, is a product with 5-inch screen made by Sharp, equipped with the latest generation chip made by Qualcomm and other high-end components. As a high-end product, BPhone could be priced at VND10-12 million.

The price is believed to be overly high for a made-in-Vietnam product. An iPhone is priced at no more than VND20 million.

“BKAV seems to be under a delusion when setting such a high price,” a man commented.

“I will not be foolish enough to spend so much money on a Vietnam-made product,” Quyhien Ha Facebooker commented.

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