BQ (former name: Mundo Reader) was a Spanish company brand of user electronics devices, such as smartphones, tablets, e-readers and 3D printers among other products.
 Five fingerprint logo | |
| Company type | Sociedad Limitada |
|---|---|
| Founded | Madrid, Spain |
| Headquarters | , |
| Products | Smartphones, Tablets, e-readers and 3D printers |
Number of employees | 1,028 (2014) |
| Website | www |
Among BQ's most notable products are the first AndroidOne mobile phone in Europe (the BQ Aquaris A4.5),[1][2][3] as well as both the world's first mobile phone and tablet running the Ubuntu Phone operating system, (the BQ Aquaris E4.5 and BQ Aquaris M10).[4][5][6][7] In 2018, the Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup acquired 51% share of BQ and active in Vietnam under the name of VinSmart.[8]
History
The company started its business in 2009 importing e-readers from Asia.[9]In 2010 it started to produce its own tablets and e-readers.[9]
In 2013, the company had 600 employees and it produced 400,000 tablets and 100,000 e-readers.[10]
In 2014, the company entered the Portuguese market.[11]
In 2015, the company produced a smartphone (BQ Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition) that runs the Ubuntu operating system.[12]
In 2016, the company released the BQ Aquaris M10 Ubuntu Edition tablet.[13]
By 2020, bq appears no longer to be in the phone market, with all devices removed from the company's web-page. The English language home-page now presents Robotics, 3D-printing and product development consulting as the focus of the company, at least internationally.
In 2021 their web-page informed visitors that it had ceased business operations and only made available links to software downloads for the 3D-printer Witbox Go and to their educational offerings.
Revenue, by year:
Mobile phones and tablets
AndroidOne:
- BQ Aquaris X2 Pro
- BQ Aquaris X2
- BQ Aquaris A4.5
Android high-end:
Android mid-range:
- BQ Aquaris M5[19]
- BQ Aquaris E4.5
- BQ Aquaris E5
Android Cyanogen:
Ubuntu Phone:
Other:
- BQ Aquaris E6
- BQ Aquaris E4