 Five fingerprint logo | |
| bq | |
| Company type | Sociedad Limitada |
| Industry | Consumer electronics |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Smartphones, tablets, E-reader, 3D printers and home automation |
Number of employees | 1,028 (2014) |
| Website | www |
Mundo Reader, S.L., trading as BQ (often stylised bq), is a Spanish producer of smartphones, tablets, electronic readers, and 3-D printers founded in 2009.[1]
In 2014, the company had a total revenue of 202.5 million euro.[2]
The company had 960 employees in 2014.[3]
BQ sold about 400,000 handsets in 2013, having 3 percent of Spain's smartphone market in 2013, of about 12 million units.[4]
History
editIn 2003, six engineering students from the ETS of Telecommunication Engineering in Madrid at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid -Alberto Méndez, Rodrigo del Prado, David Béjar, Ravín Dhalani, Adán Muñoz and Iván Sánchez -were in the student association ITEM Consulting . In 2005, these students founded MemoriasUSB, a company dedicated to the manufacture of USB keys.4 Later it would belong to the business holding company StarTic Innovación. The company started its business in 2009 importing e-readers from Asia.[1] In 2010 it started to produce its own tablets and e-readers.[1]
In 2013, the company had 600 employees and it produced 400,000 tablets and 100,000 e-readers.[3]
In 2014, the company entered the Portuguese market.[5]
In 2015, the company produced a smartphone (BQ Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition) that runs the Ubuntu operating system.[6]
In 2016, the company released the BQ Aquaris M10 Ubuntu Edition tablet.[7]
Revenue, by year:
- 2014: 202.5 million euro.[2]
- 2013: 115 million euro.[3]
- 2012: 37.3 million euro.[1]
- 2011: 25 million euro.[1]
- 2010: 3.8 million euro.[1]
Electronics books
editIn 2009, under the brand Booq, launch their first electronic reader, the Booq Classic. In 2010 the company materialized as Mundo Reader SL, a result of the union of Luarna and StarTic Innovation partners, dedicated to the world of digital book readers.5 Luarna, directed by Antonio Quirós, was the first 100% digital Spanish publisher .
In 2013, the company started to produce its own line of smartphones and phablets based on Android and 3d printers based on Makerbot Replicator 2.[1][8][9]
In 2011, BQ began designing and manufacturing the first electronic readers of the companies Telefónica (Movistar ebook BQ), Fnac (Fnacbook), and Casa del Libro (Tagus / Tagus BQ). In the second quarter of 2011, BQ expanded its business to South America, opening official offices in Montevideo (Uruguay), and although it was already in the Portuguese market through partners, during 2011 BQ begins to be present in Portugal. In this same year, BQ Cervantes was the best selling electronic reader in Spain.
In 2012, BQ became the designer and official manufacturer of the tablets and electronic readers of the company Fnac. In addition, the company began to market readers Cervantes Touch and Cervantes Touch light. Gama Aquaris 2013 In 2013, BQ markets its first smartphone called Aquaris 4.5, a mid-range terminal with 4.5-inch display, Dual SIM, 8-megapixel rear camera and a VGA front, 4 GB of internal memory, 1 GB and an ARM Dual Core Cortex A9 processor up to 1 GHz.6
Also in 2013, BQ starts marketing the Aquaris 5.0, a terminal with a 5-inch screen, Dual SIM, 8-megapixel rear camera and a VGA front, and a 1 GB RAM. It also includes 16 GB of internal memory, a Quad Core Cortex A7 processor up to 1.2 GHz and an Android 4.2 Jelly Bean version. This same year they released the Aquaris 5 HD with 5-inch screen and HD resolution 720x1280, Dual SIM, 8 megapixel rear camera and a front of 1.2 megapixels, 16 GB of internal memory and 1 GB of RAM, Quad Core processor Cortex A7 up to 1.2 GHz; And the Aquaris 5.7 its flagship, with 5.7 screen and resolution 1929x1080.7 Dual SIM, 13 megapixel rear camera and a front of 5 megapixels, a 2GB RAM and 16GB of internal memory, with a Quad Core Cortex A7 up to 1.5 GHz, 2 GB of RAM. This device includes a Li-ion battery of 4000 mAh.
3d print
editAt the end of 2013, BQ began to market 3D printers for the first time in Spain. This was done through an alliance with the American manufacturer Makerbot. The model in question was the Replicator 2, which is capable of printing large figures and with pieces that fit together. The system used by this 3D printer is the PLA standard. The software used for the interface of this 3D printer is Makeware.8
Immediately, at the end of 2013, they present Witbox, the first 3D printer manufactured in Spain, with a print size DIN A-4 (21 x 29.7 cm) and a printing system inspired by the Fibonacci curve. It uses PLA and is compatible with open source 3D design software. According to 3D HUBS 3D Printing Trends October 2014, BQ Witbox is one of the 10 best 3D printers in the world.9
In mid-2014, Prusa i3 Hephestos, an evolution of Prusa i3, the most popular 3D printer in the RepRap community, launches Prusa i3 Hephestos, which includes all the necessary parts and assembly manuals step by step. It has a printing area of 21.5 x 21 x 18 cm, an extruder of its own design and uses different printing materials: PLA, HIPS and FilaFlex, among others.
Aquaris E range
editIn May 2014, BQ introduced its new range of mobile phones, the Aquaris E, the first smart phones designed 100% in Spain. They all carry the latest version of Android, KitKat 4.4.2. The E range consists of the terminals Aquaris E4, Aquaris E4.5, Aquaris E5 HD, Aquaris E5 FHD and the Aquaris E6, these last two of high range. In August of that same year, the Aquaris E5 HD model was able to position itself as the best-selling free smartphone in Spain.10
In November 2014, BQ introduced two new products. The Aquaris E10, the first tablet designed in Spain with 10 inch Full HD screen with resolution 1920x1200 px. It carries a MediaTek True8Core processor at 1.7 GHz, 2 GB of RAM and 8680 mAh battery. Includes rear camera of 8 Mpx and another front of 5 Mpx. It records videos in Full HD and includes Dolby sound technology. Sold with WiFi and 3G version. Also introduced was the Aquaris E5 HD 4G. The new phone has a 5-inch screen. It is the first BQ device with a Qualcomm processor, the one chosen is the Snapdragon 410, has 1 GB of RAM and a battery of 2850 mAh. It stands out for the new technology of screen, Quantumm Color +, that improves the vividness of the colors.
Contrary to consumer expectations, Aquaris E5 FHD, Aquaris E6 and Aquaris E10 will not be upgraded to new versions of Android.11
Aquaris M Range
editFor June 2015, the company launched its new range Aquaris M, integrated by the models M4.5, M5 and M5.5. While the first of them supported a MediaTek processor, the other two advanced on the line marked by the last terminal of the previous range, and bet on the SoC of the American Qualcomm. As standard, all new devices were showing Android 5.0 version Lollipop.12
Aquaris X range
editThe first Aquaris X was launched in December 2015 with the x5, which is characterized by its metal edges, have possibility of Android or Cyanogen OS and a gold / pink color only in Android version. There are two versions, one 16GB of storage and 2GB of RAM and another 32GB of storage and 3GB of RAM. Available colors are black, anthracite gray and gold / pink. BQ then launched the Aquaris X5 Plus version, this time with superior overall quality and integrated fingerprint reader.
Aquaris U range
editThe new Aquaris u Lite range features QualComm QuadCore SnapDragon 425 to 1.4 GHz and an Adreno 308 GPU, its display is 720 × 1280 (HD) . It has a 16 GB ROM memory and 2 GB RAM, has a 3080 mAh battery, an 8 MP f / 2.0 rear camera and a 5 MP front with f / 2.4. The Aquaris U features Qualcomm OctaCore SnapDragon 430 to 1.4 GHz and an Adreno GPU to 450 GHz, its screen is of 720 × 1280 (HD). It has a 16 GB ROM and a 2 GB RAM, has a 3080 mAh battery, a 13 MP f / 2.0 rear camera and a 5 MP front with f / 2.4. The Aquaris U Plus is just like the Aquaris U with 8 MP on its front camera and 16 MP on its rear. This also integrates fingerprint reader with a UniBody body made of metal. The model, as is normal in BQ, is going to have a variant of 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of ROM.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e f g E. Arrieta (December 12, 2013). "El fabricante de tabletas BQ contratará a 400 personas,Empresas y Finanzas". Expansion.com. Retrieved November 27, 2014.
- ^ a b Ramón Muñóz (25 May 2015). "BQ: Móviles con la marca España". El Pais. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
- ^ a b c Marimar Jimenez (November 27, 2014). "La española BQ presume de sus ventas millonarias de 'smartphones'". Cincodias.com. Retrieved November 27, 2014.
- ^ Rodrigo Orihuela (June 24, 2014). "Can Spain's Home-Grown Smartphone Compete With Samsung, Apple?". Bloomberg. Retrieved November 27, 2014.
- ^ "Spain's bq expects to sell 100,000 smartphones in Portugal - Telecompaper". Telecompaper.com. May 23, 2014. Retrieved November 27, 2014.
- ^ "Ubuntu smartphone offers alternative to apps". BBC News. 6 February 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
- ^ "Canonical fulfills its Linux convergence vision". betanews. 5 February 2016. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
- ^ Marta Juste (February 1, 2013). "El teléfono-tableta low-cost made in Spain se llama BQ Elcano". Expansion.com. Retrieved November 27, 2014.
{{cite web}}: C1 control character in|title=at position 21 (help) - ^ Ana Gamazo (March 10, 2013). "La tecnológica española bq se volcará este año en los smartphones". Expansion.com. Retrieved November 27, 2014.