Yota joins hands with ZTE-associated company in next generation to make China debut

Russian dual screen smartphone maker Yota Devices signed cooperation agreements with a domestic supply chain and original design manufacturer (ODM) to further compete in the Chinese market.

Shenzhen ZTE Supply Chain Co Ltd (ZTESC), an associate company of Chinese tech giant ZTE Corporation, and Shenzhen X&F Technology Co Ltd, an ODM that focuses on terminal products in the field of communications, singed the deal.

Vladislav Martynov, CEO of Yota Devices,delivers a speech during the signing ceremony of Yota Devices with X&F Technology and ZTESC on September 15, 2015 in Beijing. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

ZTESC, a company with 26 years' experience of supply chain management, will provide integrated solutions of procurement, manufacture, logistics and distribution to Yota in the domestic market.

Another ZTE associated company - Shanghai based ZTE Health Technology Co Ltd, - will work with Yota to embed their elder care application in the new generation of YotaPhone that will be unveiled in China next year.

"YotaPhone is the lone ranger in the smartphone sector; it brings a brand new and distinctive experience to the Chinese customer. We look forward to the cooperation with Yota Devices and will closely work with the company to launch the next generation of YotaPhone," said He Shiyou, president of ZTE Health Technology Co Ltd.

According to Vladislav Martynov, CEO of Yota Devices, the company has been working to choose its partners as the dual display design of the device required a reliable and mature ODM team possessing an innovative attitude.

"The next generation of Yota Phone will come with a high-end performance and a reasonable price," said Martynov. He told chinadaily.com.cn that features such as larger screen and better camera are some of the functions to be improved in the next generation.

He claimed that the price will be slightly cheaper than the existing YotaPhone 2, which is 4,888 yuan ($799).

"YotaPhone 2, the world's first dual screen smartphone with an always-on e-ink display, made its China debut on May 20 this year at the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Beijing. The product has received many positive users' feedbacks in a very short period," said Andrey Ivanovich Denisov, Russia's ambassador to China.

Denisov said during the debut ceremony that YotaPhone represents a new level of technological cooperation between Russia and China.

In November 2014, Russian president Vladimir Putin presented the Russian-designed and Chinese-manufactured YotaPhone2 to President Xi Jinping as the symbol of cooperation between Russia and China in the field of the consumer electronics.

The phone features a quad-core 2.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chip, a 5-inch, 1080P AMOLED screen and a 2GB random access memory.

Unlike other standard Android-based phones, flipping the phone over reveals the E-ink display which uses zero power unless it is refreshing to receive new information.