YotaPhone, Russia’s first Android-powered dual-screen (LCD and EPD) smartphone supporting GSM, 3G, and LTE standards, is now available in the UK for £419. More European markets are coming this month, including Portugal, Italy, Switzerland and Scandinavia, TechCrunch reported last week.
In an exchange with the Financial Times, Yota Devices CEO Vlad Martynov said that the international turmoil around Ukraine and Crimea had not affected the company or its plans.
Martynov also said that his company was also not making any profit from its first phone “since the costs to produce the phone were higher than average, given the extra materials needed.”
Meanwhile Rostec, a state-backed technology investment group, has acquired a 25% stake in the company. Yota Devices is otherwise owned by an investment fund mainly representing the interests of Sergei Adoniev and Albert Avdolyan, the founders of Scartel, which is now owned by mobile group Megafon, as well as Martynov, according to the Financial Times.
YotaPhone features a powerful Android based phone with LCD display on one side and EPD on the other, which is the user’s personal space for receiving notifications, linking to social media, reading content-rich news or displaying favorite pictures.
The device won the CNET Best of CES Award for Hottest Mobile Device at the 2013 International CES. It was launched commercially in Russia this past December.
Yota Devices has offices in Finland, Germany and Singapore, in addition to its Moscow headquarters. It is aiming to sell YotaPhone in 20 markets – including the US and China – later this year or in early 2015.
