VietNamNet Bridge - Nguyen Tu Quang and BPhone were the the two names most often mentioned in the Vietnamese technology community in 2015. The former is the name of the CEO of the Vietnamese best known security firm, BKAV, while the latter is the name of BPhone, a high-end smartphone, the first-ever Vietnamese manufactured smartphone, made by BKAV.

Nguyen Tu Quang, the CEO of the Vietnamese best known security firm.

Nguyen Tu Quang is associated with two major products: anti-virus software BKAV and BPhone.

Quang, born in 1975, is an engineer who created the Vietnamese-born and the worldwide-famous anti-virus BKAV. Its first version came out in July 1995.

Now Quang is president and CEO of BKAV, a firm belonging to Hanoi University of Technology, the best known technology school in Vietnam. Prior to that, he was a lecturer at the Information Technology Faculty of the school. 

Many years ago, he was a student of the school after he finished the math major class of the high school for the gifted belonging to the Hanoi University of Education.

In 1995, Nguyen Tu Quang set to work on anti-virus programs when he was a third-year student at the Hanoi University of Technology. After he finished, he began providing it for free to the community.

Nguyen Tu Quang and BPhone were the the two names most often mentioned in the Vietnamese technology community in 2015. The former is the name of the CEO of the Vietnamese best known security firm, BKAV, while the latter is the name of BPhone, a high-end smartphone, the first-ever Vietnamese manufactured smartphone, made by BKAV.

In 2005, BKAV became commercialized.

After gaining success with BKAV anti-virus software, Quang and his co-workers have bet on a new game – a high-end smartphone named BPhone.

The project on BPhone kicked off in September 2010, and five years later, in May 2015, BPhone was officially introduced at the National Convention Center.

The CEO has launched a lively media campaign to advertise BPhone. He believes “BKAV’s smartphone will be one of the most beautifully designed smartphone models in the world”. He compares BPhone with a “super product in the world with very attractive selling prices to anyone in world, not only in Vietnam”.

While Quang was busy with his media campaign, local newspapers looked at BPhone with dubious eyes, while the foreign press made cautious comments. Many Vietnamese do not believe that Vietnamese can make a high-end high-technology product.

While other Vietnamese brands only dared to make low-cost smartphones priced at VND2.5-3 million and target low-income earners, BKAV only eyes high-income earners and competes with big companies like Apple and Samsung in the same market segment.

BPhone uses an IPS LCD screen, Full HD, 1080 x 1920 pixels, 5 inch with 13 MP main camera and 2600 mAh battery capacity. With the selling price of VND9.99 million at minimum, BPhone’s price was nearly the same as iPhone 6 and Sony Xperia Z3 available in the market at that time.

However, BPhone has met some troubles since the launch. The smartphone has been rooted though it was introduced as the safest model in the world. 


Bizlive