BLU Products

Blu Products

Industry	Consumer electronics
Founded	Miami, Florida, United States (2010 (2010))
Founders	Samuel Ohev-Zion [1]
Headquarters	Doral, Florida, United States
Key people	Samuel Ohev-Zion (CEO)
Products	Mobile phones
Production output	15 million units (2014) 4.1 million units (2012) 70,000 units (2009) [1]
Website	bluproducts.com

BLU Products, an American company headquartered in Miami, Florida, resells re-branded Gionee low-cost mobile devices. The company has been in the mobile industry since 1995, and decided to launch their own brand called BLU in 2010, standing for Bold Like Us.

The company sells feature phones and smartphones running Android.

History

BLU Products, among the first Latin-owned mobile manufacturer aimed at a Latin population and the fastest-growing in the region, announced its presence at CTIA Wireless 2011. BLU Products was founded by Brazilian entrepreneur Samuel Ohev-Zion.^[2]

BLU mobile devices are already present throughout Latin America, Central America, the United States, and all of the Caribbean countries. In regions such as Central America, 50% of devices that are present at the point of sale are BLU devices. In other countries, such as Trinidad and Tobago, BLU rapidly became the leading mobile device brand after launching with a carrier in the 4Q of 2010. In Aruba, the leading cellular carrier Digicel introduced in September 2013 a very low-cost BLU Android cellphone for the local market, going for only Afl.9 (approximately US$6) with a post-paid plan.^[3] This year, the company expects to manufacture in Brazil, the largest market in Latin America.^[2]

In June 2015, BLU introduced two smartphones in the US market. The BLU Life One (2015 Edition) and the BLU LIFE 8 XL were listed on e-commerce website, Amazon.com.^[4]

In August 2015, Blu launched two smartphones, Win HD LTE and Win Jr. LTE in India and Europe.^[5][6]

In August 2016, BlackBerry Limited filed a lawsuit against BLU for allegedly infringing 15 patents.^[7]

In November 2016, security firm Kryptowire detected remote control and surveillance software on BLU phones sold online through Amazon and Best Buy.^[8]

In May 2017, Blu became the official shirt sponsor of Spanish football club Valencia CF.^[9]

In July 2017, Amazon suspended all sales of Blu devices because of concerns of preloaded spyware.^[10]

In August 2017, Amazon reinstated sales of Blu devices on their website. ^[11]

Products

Android

• Dash series: A very affordable series of phones.^[12][13][14]
• BLU Dash M2 And X2: Phones With High End Design With A Low End Price ^[15][16]
• Vivo Series: High-end phones. A notable example is the Vivo Air. BLU Vivo Air, when released, was the one of the world's thinnest cellular phones (the thinnest sold by an American company) which supported 4G HSPA+.^[17][18]
• Studio Series: Mid and high-end devices. Phones in this series often support 4G HSPA and some, LTE. They are known for durability. Battery life ranges from low to medium depending on the specific model.^[19]
• BLU Studio X (and X plus (5.5 inches)): Comes with Android 4.4.2 and is upgradeable to 5.0.2 lollipop. Marketed as a high use mid range cost phone aimed at people who use their phone a fair amount yet don't wish to pay for a brand name phone.
• BLU Studio G: Lowest end studio series phone. Reliable yet low battery life and low screen resolution. When released it was sold for $99 in stores such as Target, Best Buy and, Amazon.com.
• Life series: BLU's highest end phone series. New phones will include fingerprint sensors, 2K screens and higher range phone processors.
• Touchbook series: A two phone series that has larger screens at 7 inches and 8 inches.
• Pure series: As of February 2017, this series has only two devices, the Pure XL, And The Pure XR
• Specialty series: Phones that have special capabilities, some being waterproof.
• BLU R1 HD: Comes With Android 6.0 And is a Prime Exclusive in Amazon For $60 With 2GB Ram and 16GB of Storage, one of the phones affected by the Adups Software
• Neo series: Low to Mid-Ranged Devices, most phones in this series are generally bigger than 4.0 Inches except some phones like the BLU Neo 3.5.
• BLU Neo XL: One of the Higher-End of the BLU Neo Series, Sold For $100 In Most Stores with a 6.0 inch screen, also one of the phones affected by the Adups Software.

Feature Phones

Blu's feature phones have the bar or flip form factors.^[20]

References

External links

• Official website