Yota Company hails China distribution deal as one of largest of its kind

Yota Company, the Russia-based manufacturer of the dual-screen YotaPhone smartphones, said a deal to supply devices to Chinese company Potevio is one of the largest covering technology between Russia and China.

The device maker agreed terms that will see Potevio begin selling Yota's latest YotaPhone2 smartphone, the second incarnation of the company's dual-sided Android smartphone. In addition to sales, Potevio has also agreed to provide marketing support for Yota in China.

Yota said Potevio is one of the three largest mobile electronics distributors in China, and that the company shifted 36 million devices during 2014.

Vladislav Martynov, Yota Company's CEO, said the first YotaPhone2 smartphones will be available via Potevio in the current calendar quarter. "[W]e created a special version of YotaPhone2 supporting local LTE frequencies," he explained, adding that the Chinese version of the smartphone "also includes a package of the most popular mobile applications in China and social networks localised and adapted for the second screen."

The agreement with Potevio makes good on Yota's promise to ship the YotaPhone2 to China and other Asia Pacific markets in the first quarter of 2015--a promise the company made when it launched the YotaPhone2 in December. The device was initially available in 20 countries in Europe, Middle East and CIS, and Yota said it planned to introduce the model in Hong Kong by end-2014.

Shan Zhao, VP of Potevio, said demand for the YotaPhone2 in China is high. "Competition and segmentation in consumer electronics are quite high in China, experienced users have the opportunity to be among the first in the world to receive flagship leading manufacturers and be almost at a professional level to monitor trends in the industry of mobile communication devices," he said.

YotaPhone2's unique selling point is its second screen. The device's main front display is a high-definition AMOLED screen intended to handle key functions including web browsing, watching videos and playing games. Meanwhile, the second display is an e-paper screen designed for reading e-books or device notifications.

The company said the second screen is seven-times more power efficient than the main AMOLED unit, and can offer up to five days of e-book reading on a single phone charge.

For more:
- read Yota Company's announcement

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