Mobile industry services giant Brightstar rebrands as Likewize

(Image credit: Brightstar)

Mobile distributor and services provider Brightstar is rebranding as ‘Likewize’ – a move the company says better reflects the wide portfolio of after-sale products it can now offer the industry.

Likewize may not be familiar to consumers, but it is an important player behind the scenes, assisting mobile operators, device manufacturers and retailers during the entire lifecycle of a smartphone and tablet.

The company built its name in distribution but has since expanded into supply chain, logistics, insurance, trade-in, and repair services, while it is also a major player in mobile accessories.

Brightstar UK

Essentially, Likewize plays a significant role in powering and delivering the services and support received by more than one billion of its customers’ customers, including those of Amazon, Barclays, O2, Samsung, Tesco and Vodafone.

Recently, the company has invested $1 billion in new systems, services, and facilities, including a £50 million fulfilment centre in Crewe. It has also acquired repair specialist WeFix and LucidCX, a provider of customer service management software and services.

These developments, coupled with the elevated role of mobility and connectivity within society following the pandemic, meant management felt the time was right for a rebrand that draws attention to its growth.

“Over the past decade we have undergone a fundamental transformation journey, from a distributor to a tech protection and support company,”  declared Rod Millar, Likewize CEO. “Due to the company changing fundamentally, we knew it was necessary to change the brand to accurately reflect this profound shift.

“Likewize offers a much a stronger sense of our identity and what we want to accomplish. I’ve felt we have been the industries’ best kept secret and now that is all about to change.

“Over recent years as the importance of technology has grown in our daily lives, so too has the importance on keeping people connected and this is our singular focus each and every day.

“But we got to the point where we were misunderstood—many people did not realize the value we bring, why we exist, the breadth of what we do, or the advanced technology we are using to enable us to be uniquely better than anyone else. Perception of us lagged behind reality and we recognized the need to make people reassess who we are and what we do.”

TOPICS

Steve McCaskill is TechRadar Pro's resident mobile industry expert, covering all aspects of the UK and global news, from operators to service providers and everything in between. He is a former editor of Silicon UK and journalist with over a decade's experience in the technology industry, writing about technology, in particular, telecoms, mobile and sports tech, sports, video games and media. 

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