BenQ
BenQ Corporation (/ˌbɛnˈkjuː/; Chinese: 明基電通股份有限公司) is a Taiwanese multinational company that sells and markets technology products, consumer electronics, computing and communications devices[2] under the "BenQ" brand name, which stands for the company slogan Bringing Enjoyment N Quality to life. Its principal products include TFT LCD monitors, digital projectors, digital cameras, and mobile computing devices.
Subsidiary | |
Industry | Electronics |
Predecessor | Acer Communication & Multimedia[1] |
Founded | 1984 |
Headquarters | Taipei, Taiwan |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | K.Y. Lee, Chairman; Conway Lee, CEO and President |
Total assets | US$118 million |
Number of employees | 3,500 (2019) |
Parent | Qisda Corporation |
Website | benq.com |
BenQ | |||||||
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Traditional Chinese | 明基電通(Míngjī diàntōng) | ||||||
Simplified Chinese | 明基电通(Míngjī diàntōng) | ||||||
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Qisda | |||||||
Traditional Chinese | 佳世達科技 (Jiāshìdá kējì) | ||||||
Simplified Chinese | 佳世达科技(Jiāshìdá kējì) | ||||||
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BenQ's head office is located in Taipei, and the company operates five branch offices in the Asia-Pacific, Europe, China, Latin America and North America, and employs over 1,300 individuals. The "BenQ" brand is present in more than 100 countries worldwide.
History
BenQ was originally founded in 1984, then spun off from Acer in 2001 to provide a separate branded channel. In 2006 Acer disposed of its remaining shares in BenQ.[3]
BenQ's first mobile phone was the M775C, in 2003. During Q1 2004, eight new phones were announced, ranging from bar and clamshell phones to Windows Mobile smartphones. A further seven phones, mainly clamshells, came in 2005.
BenQ-Siemens
On 1 October 2005, BenQ Corp. acquired the mobile devices division of Germany's Siemens AG, becoming the sixth largest company in the mobile phone industry by accumulated market share. The acquisition results in a new business group, BenQ Mobile, of BenQ Corporation entirely dedicated to wireless communications. Mobile phones of the new group are marketed under a new brand, BenQ-Siemens.[4]
In late September 2006, the mobile devices division of BenQ, BenQ Mobile (Germany), announced bankruptcy when BenQ Corp. discontinued its funding. As a result, BenQ Mobile was placed under the supervision of a state-appointed bankruptcy administrator. In February 2007, BenQ Mobile was finally disbanded as a suitable buyer could not be found. An estimated 2000 BenQ Mobile employees lost their jobs.[5] On 24 August 2006 BenQ announced plans to spin off its manufacturing operations in early 2007, separating contract manufacturing and own-brand divisions.[6]
After Siemens
After BenQ-Siemens, BenQ continued to make phones, primarily aimed at the Asian market (although one was released in Europe too).
This is a list of BenQ phones during the post-BenQ-Siemens brands period between 2009-2012:
- BenQ T33
- BenQ T51
- BenQ C30 (BenQ-Siemens C31)
- BenQ E72 (Windows Mobile smartphone. Also released in Europe) (Not a E71 Successors)
- BenQ M7 (BenQ-Siemens M81 spirituality success's)
- BenQ T60
- BenQ E53
- BenQ C36 (BenQ-Siemens C31 Successors)
- BenQ E55
- BenQ MOMODESIGN MD300H (HSDPA) (this is a co-brands in exclusively project of gadgets for MOMODESIGN, the most rarest model of BenQ Mobile because the phone was made available in limited quantities volumes not over 5,000 units.)
After a hiatus, BenQ resumed production of smartphones under its own brand in 2013.[7]
Smartphones
- Dell Venue Pro
Qisda Corporation, the parent company of BenQ, manufactured smartphones for Dell, which were marketed under the Venue Pro name, and which ran Windows Phone 7.[8] The phone was made available in limited quantities on 8 November 2010 with the launch of Windows Phone.[9] Delivery of the phone met severe setbacks, it was riled with numerous hardware issues,[10] and the device was discontinued as of 8 March 2012.[11]
- Android
- BenQ A3 — made for the Asian market, runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
- BenQ T3
- BenQ F5 RAM 2GB, runs Android 4.4.2 KitKat
- EE (UK)
Starting in 2015 BenQ manufactured the Harrier and Harrier Mini Android Smartphones for the UK mobile telecoms provider EE.
Corporate restructuring
On 24 August 2006, BenQ announced plans to spin off its manufacturing operations in early 2007, separating contract manufacturing and own-brand divisions.[6]
In April 2007, considering that the branded business has achieved sufficient profit and scale to sustain and grow its operation independently, BenQ announced the plan to spin off its branded business. After the spin-off, BenQ Corporation was renamed Qisda Corporation, which will focus on integrated manufacturing service business, and the spun off company has succeeded the name of BenQ Corporation, which is a 100% owned subsidiary of Qisda Corp.[12]
On 3 September 2007, the newly spun off BenQ Corporation commenced its new operation to continue selling and marketing products under the BenQ brand name.[13]
Acquiring Zowie Gear
On 10 December 2015, BenQ announced that ZOWIE GEAR would become their new gaming division.[14] Their newer products include mice, mouse pads, sound cards, monitors, and other gaming accessories.
See also
- List of digital camera brands
- Products of Acquired Siemens Mobile Division
- List of companies of Taiwan
References
- "Acer spins off peripherals unit". News.cnet.com. 5 December 2001. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
- Plunkett, Jack (2007). Plunkett's Advertising & Branding Industry Almanac 2007: Advertising. Plunkett Research. Retrieved 20 October 2009.
- "Acer cuts BenQ's cord". ZDNet UK. 18 April 2006. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
- "Xinhua - English". Xinhua. 2005-06-08. Retrieved 2015-02-26.
- "Ex-Siemens Subsidiary Flops: BenQ Bankruptcy Causes Furor". Spiegel Online. 2006-09-29. Retrieved 2015-02-26.
- Nystedt, Dan (2006-08-24). "BenQ to spin off manufacturing operations". InfoWorld. Retrieved 2015-02-26.
- "BenQ rejoins the smartphone market with two tepid Android models". Engadget. 2 December 2013. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
- "IMEI lookup". Imei-number.com. 31 March 2012.
- Ziegler, Chris (8 November 2010). "Dell Venue Pro on sale at Microsoft stores, but good luck getting one". Engadget. AOL. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
- Beren, David (12 November 2010). "Dell Fesses Up To Venue Pro Wi-Fi Issues, Will Reship November 19th". TmoNews. PhoneDog. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
- Bishop, Bryan (28 March 2012). "Dell retires Venue and Venue Pro in the US, future smartphone plans unclear". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
- "Benq is Dead, Long Live ... Qisda?". WIRED. 2007-06-21. Retrieved 2015-02-26.
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-04-05. Retrieved 2017-04-06.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- "ZOWIE by BenQ on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2016-05-23.