TelecomWorldWire
August 10, 2006
Haladjian’s Nabaztag Wi-Fi rabbit targets US consumers
TELECOMWORLDWIRE-10 August 2006-Haladjian’s Nabaztag Wi-Fi rabbit
targets US consumers ©1994-2006 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD
The Nabaztag Wi-Fi rabbit has been unveiled by Violet, a French
company 55% owned by French entrepreneur Rafi Haladjian and 30% by
Banexi Ventures, a private equity arm of French bank BNP Paribas.
Nabaztag means ‘rabbit’ in Armenian, which is the first language of
Haladjian, the man who conceived the idea. The rabbit is able to read
out e-mails and mobile phone text messages, provide alerts to stock
news and offer traffic updates through Internet feeds from a wireless
Wi-Fi network.
Basic Internet feeds, such as certain e-mail reading, stock market
performance and weather forecasts are free, while calls and text
messages are charged to the sender, although text messages are free
for premium service subscribers.
The Wi-Fi rabbit, which is made in China, costs EUR115 in France, £80
in the UK and USD150 in the US, has already been sold in Belgium,
France, the UK and Switzerland and is now being targeted at the US.
Nabaztag is expected to prove popular among certain groups of
consumers, and Haladjian said he expects sales to reach 150,000 by
the end of 2006, 400,000 in 2007 and around 2m by the end of 2008.