VEVA S60 – luxury handset from China

admin — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 20:02:45 +0000

Guess we’ve missed this, but it was just recently when we caught Qiao Xing Mobile’s press release announcing that its VEVA S60 luxury handset has achieved a great success.

The device was originally released in May of this year, and during the second quarter the company has sold nearly 100,000 units. Qiao Xing plans to sell 300,000 units in Q3 2008 and somehow we think they’ll succeed. The reason is simple - the VEVA S60 is made through cooperation with Swarovski, and each phone is decorated with 129 Swarovski crystal mosaic and 18K gold coating. All this could be yours for mere $290!

And that’s not all. The fact that VEVA S60’s gross margin was 61% inspired Qiao Xing to build speciality retails stores in up-market shopping malls to “offer one-stop solution and VIP services for its VEVA customers.”

I’m glad to see Chinese handset makers going beyond cloning. However, I could add that the “S60″ part of the name does sound confusing for all the Symbian fans out there who may’ve hoped there’s Nokia’s software platform running under the hood…

Full releases are available from these two links, and here’s the VEVA S60’s page on Qiao Xing Mobile’s website.

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[tags]VEVA S60, luxury handset, China [/tags]

Quirk in Belgian law drives iPhones near $1,000

admin — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:05:34 +0000

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Belgians finally get the chance to buy one of Apple Inc.'s coveted iPhones on Friday — at the highest prices in the world. The 8-gigabyte iPhone will retail for 525 euros ($825) — more than four times the U.S. price of $199. The 16-gigabyte version costs 615 euros ($966). The same phone would cost $299 in the U.S.

Belgian Enterprise Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne blamed a local law that forbids companies subsidizing one product by charging more for something else. He said he will try to scrap this rule in September because it stops phone operators from selling handsets inexpensively along with fixed service contracts, as is common elsewhere. For instance, Dutch customers over the border can pay just 1 euro ($1.57) for an iPhone if they pick a contract with operator T-Mobile.

The Belgian iPhone carrier, Mobistar, claims it isn't worried that high prices will deter customers. It is expecting lines at stores in Brussels when the phones go on sale Friday. For the first few weeks, shoppers won't be allowed to buy more than one iPhone each — even if they could afford it.

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VEVA S60 – luxury handset from China

Quirk in Belgian law drives iPhones near $1,000