Singapore-based Hi-P International is going to manufacture the dual-screen YotaPhone that first wowed audiences at the recent CES gadget fest in the United States last month.
The company yesterday said it had signed on with the creator of the YotaPhone – Russia’s Yota Devices – to be an original design manufacturer (ODM) – for the Android gizmo.
The manufacturing will be done in Asia, a spokesman told Techgoondu, though she said the companies are not ready to reveal the location while talks are still ongoing.
The YotaPhone has an LCD display on one side and an e-ink screen on the other, an unique concept that was among Techgoondu’s top picks for CES earlier this year.
This means users can read text on the e-ink screen, which uses little power, while turning to the colour screen for regular usage.
Future versions of the device might be designed out of Singapore. The Russian company has said it was setting up an R&D and sales office here.
The R&D facility will work with Hi-P to develop and produce subsequent versions of the YotaPhone. The sales office is expected to market Yota’s core products – wireless modems and routers – on top of its new phone.
Unfortunately, Singapore users may not see this phone until next year. Yota plans to first launch the phone back in Russia by the end of this year before pushing it out to the rest of the world.
Hi-P may not be a household brand, but it’s a fast growing supplier of parts and components to big names, including Apple, BlackBerry, and Amazon.
The company reported revenues of S$1.2 billion in 2011, and owns 15 manufacturing plants across Singapore, China, Mexico, Poland, and Thailand.
