One of Turkey's largest electronics manufacturers Vestel announced yesterday it will be commencing production of a new Android TV with the Android Pie operating system as part of its cooperation with the U.S. technology giant Google.

The agreement came on the sidelines of GSMA Mobile World Congress (MWC 2019), held in Barcelona, Spain and regarded as one of the world's largest technology fairs. "In addition to our ongoing collaboration with Google on the smartphone side, we will produce Android TV with Android Pie operating system," Turan Erdoğan, the chairman of Vestel Group Companies, said, adding they are gearing up to launch the Android TV product range in Europe, starting with Turkey in May this year.

Erdoğan and Ariel Spivak, managing director of Android Auto, Android TV and IoT Partnerships at Google, came together with members of the Turkish press in Barcelona and elaborated on the new cooperation.

Stressing that in addition to their ongoing collaboration with Google on the smartphone side, they will also produce Android TV running with the Android Pie operating system, Erdoğan said Android TV delivers the desired content and applications to the consumer instantly, guaranteeing a flawless experience, adding it is a future-friendly and secure platform that can react to changes in the market quickly and easily.

"Vestel Android TV will provide consumers with the most appropriate content suggestions, offering the smartest television experience they desire. The launch of Vestel's Android Pie-operated TVs will increase the consumer experience in Europe and contribute to our goal of bringing the TVs to a central location for smart homes," he continued, suggesting that with Vestel Android TV, consumers will be able to access the latest blockbuster movies and live match results and control ambient lights via voice command on the same screen, while accessing thousands of applications and running their TVs with voice commands thanks to Google assistant in the meantime.

He explained that they intend to secure new cooperation and orders at the fair. "We are currently selling phones mainly in the domestic market and there has been a serious contraction in the domestic market in 2018. Sales have fallen from around 12 million to 9 million. We have also had our share of this fall. But we are expecting a recovery in this regard," he added.

On a question regarding the increase in excise duty on mobile phones, Erdoğan noted that this will have a positive effect on the sector. "We hope the excise duty rate in domestic production will be different," he said. "There will be a tax increase according to the price range. There is no direct tax increase of 50 percent. We want what is best for our country."

Pointing out that they have made significant investments in startups and will continue to do so, he said the number of startups they are currently investing in has reached 12, and that exports are going very well, while 70 percent of their turnover comes from exports at the moment.

Erdoğan further explained that they invest 2 to 2.5 percent of their turnover in research and development (R&D) each year and that this figure could reach up to 3 percent this year.

Having featured all the products and services they developed from smart home systems to new technologies, and from smartphones to their startup investments at the fair, Vestel also presented Venus V7, the newest version of the Vestel V series, to visitors.

In addition to the Venus V7, which stands out with a 6.2-inch 19:9 drop notched screen, 8 MP front camera and 13 + 2 MP rear camera with AI-backed different shooting modes and face recognition technology, the Venus Z30 also has taken its place on the shelves with a price tag of TL 2,999.