Vestel to expand into smart phone market

ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News

Turkish electronic giant Vestel is set to sign an agreement with Turkey’s GSM operators to enter the Smartphone market. 

After manufacturing 85,000 smartboards as part of the FATİH Project to deliver smartboards to Turkish classrooms, Vestel is rolling up its sleeves to produce both tablet computers and Smartphones, according to daily Sabah. 

Vestel’s Group Companies’ Executive Board Vice President Turan Erdoğan said the technology they had developed for the smartboards could be easily adapted to tablet computers. He noted that within three years Vestel planned to enter the Smartphone market and that they were currently negotiating with all of Turkey’s GSM operators. 

In terms of smartboards, Erdoğan said Vestel’s year-end export target was $50 million to countries including Holland, Germany, England, Egypt, Slovenia, Egypt and Tunisia. 

Vestel has been showcasing its products at international fairs, and it has just displayed its 3D Smart LED TV at the Köln Anga Cable digital fair. 

“With the growth in internet usage and the capacity of almost every electronic item to be able to link up to the internet, customers’ usage patterns have undergone a rapid transformation,” said Erdoğan. 

“Therefore, in 2012 we began manufacturing 3D televisions that can provide 3D content and can hook up to the internet. In 2012, we hope to sell 25 percent normal table top televisions and 20 percent internet ready televisions,” he added.