BLU Products

Blu Products

Industry	Consumer electronics
Founded	Miami, Florida, United States (2010 (2010))
Founder	Samuel Ohev-Zion
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]
Total assets	Net worth is over 525 million dollars [1]
Website	bluproducts.com

BLU Products, an American company is headquartered in Miami, FL with a warehouse facility over 80,000 sq. ft. BLU designs and manufacturers affordable, attractive and innovative mobile devices focusing on fulfilling the needs of the everyday person. The company has been in the mobile industry since 1995, in 2010 they decided to launch their own brand, BLU.

The name BLU' stands for Bold Like Us

BLU is pioneering the advancement of the prepaid and no-contract revolution, giving consumers a choice between GSM network providers. In the beginning, BLU provided a vast portfolio of unlocked mobile phones to thousands of dealer agents, MVNO's, and large retailers throughout the United States, such as Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, Brandsmart and B&H  Caribbean, Latin America, Europe and Asia. Now with a new Hong Kong distribution center, BLU is known as a global brand. With an emphasis on giving what today's mobile users need, and always launching new models, BLU gives consumers the option of an affordable smartphone at a low price point without sacrificing fashionable design and quality.  

The company sells features phones and smartphones running Android.

History

BLU Products, founded by Samuel Ohev-Zion, was among the first Latin-owned mobile phone manufacturer aimed at a Latin population. It became the fastest-growing mobile phone provider in the region, announcing its presence at CTIA Wireless 2011.

BLU products are present throughout Latin America, Central America, the United States, and all of the Caribbean. BLU sold 70,000 units in its first year in 2009, and rapidly became the leading mobile device brand in Latin America, selling 4.1 million units the following year.^[2] 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] In May 2017, Blu became the official shirt sponsor of Spanish football club Valencia CF.^[4]

Products

Android Phones

• Advance series: Low-end devices, most of which have a 4.0" screen.
• Dash series: Low and mid-ranged devices. In 2013, the Dash series was released and started at a $50 dollar price point.^{[5][6][7][8][9]}
• Energy series: Mid and high-end devices. Phones in this series generally have a bigger battery compared to the Studio series.
• Grand series Low end devices. Phones in this series are similar to the Dash Series, Usually with MT6580 processors, Phones in this Series are generally bigger though.
• Life series: High-end devices. New phones will include fingerprint sensors, 2K screens and higher range phone processors.
• 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.
• Tank Xtreme series: Devices with water and dust resistance.
• Touchbook series Low end devices. These devices are different than the other Blu Devices, as they are tablets with Sim-cards, not phones, also they use Mediatek Processors.
• Pure series: BLU's highest-end devices. The BLU Pure XR, released in August 2016, is known for having a 3D Touch display.^[10]
• R series Amazon partnered with BLU in releasing the R1HD starting at $50, with Amazon Prime.
• S series: The S1, released in September 2017, was BLU's first phone to be compatible with Sprint and other CDMA carriers.^[11]
• Studio series: First released in 2012
  • BLU Studio X (and X plus (5.5 inches)): Comes with Android 4.4.2 and is upgradable to 5.0.2 lollipop.
  • BLU Studio G: Lowest end studio series phone. When released it was sold for $99 in stores such as Target, Best Buy and, Amazon.com.
  • 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.^[12]
• Vivo series: ^[9] Mid and high-end devices. The Vivo 4.3 was dubbed as the world's first dual SIM smartphone with Super AMOLED Plus screen ^[13]

Windows Phones^[14][15]

• BLU Win HD^[16][17]
• BLU Win JR^[16][18]

Feature Phones

Blu's feature phones have the bar or flip form factors.^[19]

Controversy

In August 2016, BlackBerry Limited filed a lawsuit against BLU for allegedly infringing 15 patents.^[20]

In November 2016, security firm, kryptowire, detected pre-loaded remote surveillance software on BLU phones sold online through Amazon and Best Buy.^[21] In August 2017, Engadget reported that Amazon pulled Blu Products from its website over security vulnerabilities that resulted in BLU consumer user data being covertly sent to China.^[22] One month later, Amazon reinstated sales of BLU devices on their website.^[23] CNET reported, "[Shanghai Adups Technology] Having access to the command and control channel -- a communications route between your device and a server -- allowed Adups to execute commands as if it's the user, meaning it could also install apps, take screenshots, record the screen, make calls and wipe devices without needing permission."^[24] Even after Adups publicly reported the spyware to be a mistake, kryptowire discovered that the same vulnerability was still being utilized, except it was being utilized in a more covert manner.^[24]

References

External links

• Official website