BQ
Company typeSociedad Limitada
FoundedMadrid, Spain
Headquarters
Las Rozas de Madrid (Community of Madrid)
,
Spain
ProductsSmartphones, Tablets, e-readers and 3D printers
Number of employees
1,028 (2014)
Websitewww.bq.com

BQ (former name: Mundo Reader) was a Spanish company brand of user electronics devices, such as smartphones, tablets, e-readers and 3D printers among other products.

Among BQ's most notable products are the first AndroidOne mobile phone in Europe (the BQ Aquaris A4.5),[1][2][3] as well as both the world's first mobile phone and tablet running the Ubuntu Phone operating system, (the BQ Aquaris E4.5 and BQ Aquaris M10).[4][5][6][7] In 2018, the Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup acquired 51% share of BQ and active in Vietnam under the name of VinSmart.[8]

History

The company started its business in 2009 importing e-readers from Asia.[9] In 2010 it started to produce its own tablets and e-readers.[9]

In 2013, the company had 600 employees and it produced 400,000 tablets and 100,000 e-readers.[10]

In 2014, the company entered the Portuguese market.[11]

In 2015, the company produced a smartphone (BQ Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition) that runs the Ubuntu operating system.[12]

In 2016, the company released the BQ Aquaris M10 Ubuntu Edition tablet.[13]

By 2020, bq appears no longer to be in the phone market, with all devices removed from the company's web-page. The English language home-page now presents Robotics, 3D-printing and product development consulting as the focus of the company, at least internationally.

In 2021 their web-page informed visitors that it had ceased business operations and only made available links to software downloads for the 3D-printer Witbox Go and to their educational offerings.

Revenue, by year:

Mobile phones and tablets

AndroidOne:

Android high-end:

Android mid-range:

Android Cyanogen:

Ubuntu Phone:

Other:

See also

References

  1. ^ "Android One Enters Europe With BQ Aquaris A4.5". GadgetsNDTV. Retrieved 18 Sep 2015.
  2. ^ "Google is launching Android One in Spain and it's going to be way more expensive than expected". BusinessInsider. Retrieved 21 Sep 2015.
  3. ^ "Android One-Powered BQ Aquaris A4.5 Gets Two Years Of Google Support". TomsHardware. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 18 Sep 2015.
  4. ^ "First Ubuntu Phone with 'Convergence' Is Being Made by Bq". OmgUbuntu. June 2015. Retrieved 1 Jun 2015.
  5. ^ "First Ubuntu smartphone, Aquaris E4.5, launches into cluttered mobile market". ZdNet. Retrieved 6 Feb 2015.
  6. ^ "Canonical Launches First Ubuntu Phone With Spain's BQ". GadgetsNDTV. Retrieved 9 Feb 2015.
  7. ^ "BQ And Canonical Launch The Second Ubuntu Phone". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2 Jun 2015.
  8. ^ "Vingroup bất ngờ công bố đã mua 51% công ty smartphone Tây Ban Nha, sẽ ra mắt 4 mẫu máy vào 14/12 tới". 3 December 2018.
  9. ^ a b c d e E. Arrieta (December 12, 2013). "El fabricante de tabletas BQ contratará a 400 personas,Empresas y Finanzas". Expansion.com. Retrieved November 27, 2014.
  10. ^ a b Marimar Jimenez (November 27, 2014). "La española BQ presume de sus ventas millonarias de 'smartphones'". Cincodias.com. Retrieved November 27, 2014.
  11. ^ "Spain's bq expects to sell 100,000 smartphones in Portugal - Telecompaper". Telecompaper.com. May 23, 2014. Retrieved November 27, 2014.
  12. ^ "Ubuntu smartphone offers alternative to apps". BBC News. 6 February 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
  13. ^ "Canonical fulfills its Linux convergence vision". betanews. 5 February 2016. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  14. ^ Ramón Muñóz (25 May 2015). "BQ: Móviles con la marca España". El Pais. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  15. ^ "BQ Aquaris X Pro - Full Spec - GsmArena". GsmArena.
  16. ^ "BQ Aquaris X - Full Spec - GsmArena". GsmArena.
  17. ^ "BQ Aquaris X5 Plus - Full Spec - GsmArena". GsmArena.
  18. ^ a b "BQ Aquaris X5 - Full Spec - GsmArena". GsmArena.
  19. ^ a b "BQ Aquaris M5 - Full Spec - GsmArena". GsmArena.
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