Transcript:
Meeting with Director General of Russian Technologies, Sergei Chemezov
Dmitry Medvedev: Mr Chemezov, do you remember in Sochi that you promised to show me a new Russian product?
Sergei Chemezov: Yes, I do.
Dmitry Medvedev: I won’t try to hide the fact that I probably didn’t think this was very important, but since then I’ve received a lot of questions, and people would like to see the new Russian smartphone. As I understand it, you have already developed it, right?
Sergei Chemezov: Yes, we have developed it over the past three years.
Dmitry Medvedev: That’s not so fast.
Sergei Chemezov: I promised that you would be the first to see this product.
Dmitry Medvedev: Let’s have a look.
Sergei Chemezov: Here is our smartphone, and this is how you open it. The smartphone’s two screens are its advantage. The first, a colour screen, uses a liquid crystal display, and the second, a black and white screen, with so-called e- ink, will still function when the battery is almost completely discharged.
Dmitry Medvedev: Nevertheless, it will show a certain amount of data.
Sergei Chemezov: Yes, it shows all the input data, no matter what, and any data that can be entered, including weather reports and stock exchange quotes.
Dmitry Medvedev: The black and white screen shows all this?
Sergei Chemezov: Yes. It can show messages, which you should see right away, or you can download a book and read it.
Dmitry Medvedev: Can I do all this from the black and white screen, too?
Sergei Chemezov: Yes, from the black and white screen. Power consumption is minimal.
Dmitry Medvedev: Let’s see how well it works, and how long the battery will last, because this is a very important feature on smartphones.
Sergei Chemezov: It will operate for a long time using the black and white screen.
Dmitry Medvedev: And is it called the Yota Phone?
Sergei Chemezov: Yes, we call it the Yota Phone. This is the first completely Russian, smartphone.
Dmitry Medvedev: And what about the components?
Sergei Chemezov: Unfortunately, it does have foreign-made components, and it’s assembled in Singapore. But we have already selected a company, which is part of Russian Electronics, and we’ll basically assemble all these phones here. Most importantly, Russia owns all the intellectual property rights.
Dmitry Medvedev: So, this Russian device will be assembled here?
Sergei Chemezov: Yes, this Russian smartphone, which will be assembled here, features five patented innovations. The world has nothing like this. We’ve displayed it at international exhibitions in Las Vegas and Cannes for the first time.
Dmitry Medvedev: What did they say there?
Sergei Chemezov: We received top awards and prizes.
Dmitry Medvedev: Is that so?
Sergei Chemezov: Yes, they told us that we had a very unique and innovative product.
Dmitry Medvedev: So, Apple is getting nervous about your smartphone?
Sergei Chemezov: That is absolutely correct.
Dmitry Medvedev: All right, we’ll wait and see. Let’s hope this is the first but not the last development in this area.
Sergei Chemezov: Of course, we’ll continue to upgrade it.
Dmitry Medvedev: You’ll have to create a product line.
Sergei Chemezov: Yes, this is the first generation, which will be followed by others.
Dmitry Medvedev: I forgot to ask the main question: How much does it cost?
Sergei Chemezov: It’ll be cheaper than an iPhone.
Dmitry Medvedev: That’s vague. There are different iPhone models.
Sergei Chemezov: I believe the cheapest iPhone costs about 22,000-23,000 roubles, and ours will cost about 18,000-19,000 roubles. It was just announced, and sales are starting…
Dmitry Medvedev: So, you have announced it everywhere at once. I wish you good luck then.
Sergei Chemezov: Thank you.
