YotaPhone 3 to Be Manufactured by ZTE; Launch in Q1 2016

Yota Devices, the Russian company popular for its YotaPhone series of dual-display smartphones, on Tuesday announced a partnership with ZTE, the Chinese telecommunications giant, for manufacturing the third-generation YotaPhone in China. The company also revealed plans to launch the next YotaPhone smartphone in Q1 2016.

Announcing the plans, the company said, "The partnership involves the production of new generation of YotaPhone smartphones, as well as the development and integration of mobile services and software." It's worth noting that previously YotaPhone smartphones were manufactured in Singapore.

The company also announced that a special edition of YotaPhone will be assembled in Russia at the same time. Apart from announcing the expected availability timeline for the next YotaPhone, the company also expects that the first delivery batch may touch 100,000 units.

Yota Devices stated that the production in China will reduce the cost of YotaPhone by over 30 percent. "Moving production will reduce the cost of YotaPhone by more than 30 percent, which amounted to almost 40,000 rubles at the end of last year," added the company. The news was first reported OANA news.

Yota Devices has launched two smartphones thus far. The first generation YotaPhone was unveiled back in the beginning of 2013 though it started shipping only by December. The company upgraded its original dual-screen smartphone at MWC 2014 with the next-generation YotaPhone or YotaPhone 2.

The first-generation YotaPhone finally arrived in India last year and was priced at Rs. 23,499. It received a price cut in India in January this year, making Rs. 10,500 cheaper than its launch price, and was available at Rs. 12,999.