London-based smartphone manufacturer Wileyfox has announced its plans to release a new smartphone in August which will follow a B2B (business-to-business) model. The smartphone is reportedly in development and awaits Global Certification Status, but once it will be ready for primetime the business-oriented Wileyfox smartphone will first launch in the UK and later into other European countries where the company operates.
Wileyfox unveiled the Swift 2 and Swift 2 Plus smartphones near the end of 2016, and in February 2017 during Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, the company took the veil off the Wileyfox Swift 2 X mid-ranger. However, the company revealed that the models featured at MWC are unrelated with the upcoming B2B smartphone, confirming that the device is still in development and queued up to receive approvals from telecommunication regulatory agencies. Although hardware specifications have not been revealed, it’s very interesting to note that the B2B Wileyfox device will apparently run the Windows Phone operating system. Every Wileyfox smartphone released to date made use of Cyanogen OS but because the platform no longer exists, the company announced in December 2016 that it will make the transition to stock Android Nougat with all of its products. Apparently, this will not be the case for the mysterious B2B model, which will reportedly run Windows Phone OS on the basis that Microsoft’s solution takes advantage of better security and is more adaptable to the B2B segment compared to Android OS, according to Wileyfox VP of sales, Andy Lee. The VP also added that “most firms can’t afford to spend £500 per device” and that Wileyfox aims to offer a viable solution to these potential customers.
This would be the company’s first B2B smartphone and Wileyfox intends to launch the device in August. The UK market will have priority but the device will continue to expand into other European countries where Wileyfox conducts business. Vice President Andy Lee also confirmed that the company is planning to unveil a new range of accessories – including cases, batteries, and quick chargers – which will be developed in-house and manufactured at the company’s factory in China. Although Wileyfox sold around 500,000 smartphones last year, the company intends to quadruple its sales figure this year and ship 2 million smartphones before the end of 2017.