Handset manufacturer Global Mobile Communications (GMC) has signed an exclusive deal to bring the Blackview A20 smartphone to the UK, and boost revenue by £2 million.
The Northamptonshire-based company, also an EE and O2 partner penned the deal on April 4. The smartphone is £69 prepaid and will release in Q2.
Exclusively speaking to Mobile News, managing director Stephen Westley expects the A20 to ship up to 50,000 units within 12 months of launch.
He confirmed talks are continuing with Blackview to bring another smartphone to market along with a ruggedised device.
“Blackview is a manufacturer we’ve been sampling for the last year and its taken a market share and is getting more and more exposure in territories such as Eastern Europe, they have a fantastic roadmap for 2018 and we chose three products from the line in our year long exclusive deal.
“We’re looking in the first year of launch to ship up to 50,000 and raise turnover by at least £2 million from the A20 alone.”
Westley did not reveal recent revenues – which are not publicly available.
Strong Shipments
Chinese smartphone manufacturer Blackview was founded in 2013 and is owned by Shenzhen Doke Electronic.
In Europe, Blackview shipped over half a million devices last year. The manufacturer is targeting one million this year through new partnerships throughout Western Europe with GMC being the first of 2018.
The A20 will feature Android GO, a lighter version of standard Android saving storage, less data usage and power consumption. The display is 5.5-inches with a 480p resolution in an IPS panel, with an 18:9 aspect ratio.
Powering the device is the 1.3GHz MediaTek MTK6580 processor coupled with 1GB of RAM. Internal memory stands at 8GB with 3,000mAh of battery. A dual camera system is in place for the main snapper (5MP and 0.3MP) while the front camera runs with 2MP. The A20 will be available in gold, blue and white.
