My Top 10 Wireless Stories of 2008(UNSTRUNG NEWS ANALYSIS)

10. T-Mobile's LTE leapfrogA major Euro-scoop [ed. note: Less comfortable to drive but way better mileage] kicks off our roundup. European editor Michelle Donegan buttonholed T-Mobile International AG CTO Joachim Horn back in November, who revealed that operator is bucking carrier trends and leap-frogging faster 3G in favor of proto-4G Long Term Evolution technology.
T-Mobile Beefs Up LTE Plans
9. Open up and say, 'ankle braclet'We wondered whatever happened to Verizon Wireless 's open networks plans this year; then we found out: The machines are taking over, at least for now. Be afraid.
Verizon Wireless: Rise of the Machines
8. Bringing sexy back(haul)Only your pals at Unstrung could make microwave backhaul radios a hot topic this year. We shone a spotlight on the problems that potential 4G operators could face as Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) anounnced its first WiMax delay in April, blaming a backhaul bottleneck for its problems
Sprint's Backhaul Bottleneck
7. The 700MHz questionThe early days of 2008 were all "open access" this, "wireless broadband" that, as the auctions for this prime slice of spectrum continued. In 2009, the $16.9 billion question will be: How easily and cheaply can these networks be deployed?
AT&T & Verizon to Use 700 MHz for 4G
6. Apple in 3GThe big story of the year in many people's eyes, a faster smartphone from Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL)
Top 5 3G iPhone Launch Moments
5. Clearwire does itWe wrote about Clearwire LLC (Nasdaq: CLWR) so much in 2008 they even got their own top 10. (See 2008 Top Ten: Clearwire Craziness.) Here's the Cliff Notes version if you don't want to be bothered with all that jibber-jabber.
Sprint, Clearwire Create $14.5B WiMax Giant
4. VRZN FMTOAnd wherever Verizon goes femto-wise it seems that AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) will follow. (See AT&T Targets Q2 Femto Launch.)
Verizon Eyes Femtos for 2009
And watch this video for more on femtos:
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3. Touching alternatives to AppleThe Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM) (Nasdaq: RIMM; Toronto: RIM) Storm finally arrived in November, but we were writing about a BlackBerry touch-screen way before that.
RIM's Four Aces
2. Comcast's WiMax secret is outA tasty little scoop from what we at Unstrung will fondly remember as the "summer of femtos." Then-new Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) wireless SVP Dave Williams let it slip that the firm was planning to deploy WiMax mini base stations in the home sometime in 2009. Whoopsy!
Comcast Goes for WiMax Femtocells
1. The Android hordes
Readers just couldn't get enough of Google (Nasdaq: GOOG)'s initial foray into cellphone software in 2008. So, in that spirit, we've picked the slideshow that introduced the G1 to the masses along with an Unstrung exclusive that points toward future routes that Android could take as our top of the pops for '08. Have our cake and eat it too? You betcha!
Slideshow: Switching On AndroidCTIA: Clearwire Talks Android & More
— The Staff, Unstrung

The Kelsey Group and ConStat: Almost 10% On Social Networks Via Mobile

The proportion of U.S. mobile subscribers who access social networks on their cell phones nearly tripled to almost 10% over a year ago, according to a consumer study by The Kelsey Group and ConStat spotlighted Monday by eMarketer.
Specifically, 9.6% of mobile users were connecting to a social network as of October 2008, compared to 3.4% in September 2007. The rapid growth is due in part to the small base of people who are social networking on mobile.
By 2012, eMarketer projects that more than 800 million users worldwide will participate in social networks via their mobile device, up from 82 million in 2007.
While the total base of mobile social networking users will remain under 20% by 2012, eMarketer believes "that these users will have a disproportionate impact on marketing, media and mobile communications because creating and sharing digital content (user-generated and professional) forms much of the social networking experience."
Research released by Nielsen Mobile in September showed that 21% of U.S. mobile users recalled seeing an ad while accessing social networks and blogs. That compares to 57% who recalled seeing an ad while browsing the mobile Internet overall.
Mobile social networking is still more prevalent outside the U.S., according to eMarketer. It points to the growth of mobile-only social networks such as Germany's itsmy.com, which has 2.5 million registered users. Facebook in November said use of its mobile services had grown from 5 million to 15 million during 2008, but did not break out usage by country.
As of Monday, Facebook had the 12th-most-downloaded iPhone application in Apple's App Store.
Among other key findings from the Kelsey study, 15.6% of mobile users used their phones to search the Web for local products and services, compared to 9.8% a year ago. And 14.3% searched outside their local area, up from 6.4%.
When it comes to media consumption, 8.4% watched a music video or other type of Internet video on mobile devices--nearly double the 4.4% from 2007.
The research results were based on online surveys completed by 512 U.S. mobile subscribers ages 18 and over.

Apple's iPhone Advertising Opportunity

Peter Burrows on December 09
In a Web world in which so many companies peg their futures on advertising revenue, Apple has always showed incredible discipline in not degrading its products by selling space on iTunes or on the desktops of Macs, iPods or iPhones to the highest bidders. Nor do I expect it to. The company makes great margins as it is, and understands that the main reason is that it provides a user experience that its customers love. And most of us don’t love ads.
But the iPhone is fast developing into a breakthrough product for mobile advertising—the first portable device that combines a stellar display, a tremendous Web-surfing user base, and GPS-enabled apps so as to reach people where they physically are. As more people use the device for more things, there are far more ads they might want to see—sales on fishing gear to folks that download the iFish game, or a 10% off coupon to UrbanSpoon fans from the burger joint they’re walking past.
It’s early days, but such advertising is on a fast upswing. Here’s a video from AdMob, which served up more than 100 million ads on iPhones in September, that gives a sense of the many ways this is occuring: So far, Apple doesn’t get a cut from advertisers, as it does on the software people buy at the App Store. But with the help of new technologies that will further enhance the iPhone for advertising purposes (here’s a post by Rob Hof, about Google’s new program to automatically convert Web ads for various smart phones), this will add up to real money some day. At some point—and it won’t be soon—I wouldn’t be surprised to see Apple demand a small, appropriate piece of the action. As its markets mature in the years ahead, it’s one more way for the company to cash in on the value it has created.

No more fast track, Go smart or not smart!!! IDC: 2.2% Cell Phone Sales Contraction in 2009

By Evan KoblentzWirelessWeek - December 18, 2008
After finishing 2008 by shipping more than 1.2 billion units, up 7.3% from last year, the global mobile phone industry will sell 2.2% fewer devices in 2009 but will rebound with 7.7% in 2010, IDC said today.
Particularly telling is the gap between smartphones and traditional phones. Smartphones grew 27% this year, now accounting for around 12% of all cell phones, while growth continues at a slower rate of 8.9% in 2009. Feature phones grew just 4.9% this year and that market will contract by 3.8% in 2009.
In the United States, the smartphone market grew a massive 75.7% in 2008, but will only grow 3.1% next year. IDC defines a smartphone as any handset on which users can install aftermarket applications.
Sales of feature phones – a large portion of which do have smartphone-like capability such as address books and Web browsers – contracted by 9.8% this year and will shrink another 11.6% next year.
Announcements from component makers such as MediaTek, Qualcomm and Texas Instruments were an ominous sign, said senior analyst Ryan Reith, adding that markets are even shrinking for low-end phones in China and India. However, the market’s limited growth will mean lower prices for consumers, he added.
The market will see a limited rebound in 2010, Reith said.

Reandevou Software Releases the First UPS Shipping Application for the iPhone

December 8, 2008

Reandevou Software today previewed its first serious business application, UPS Workbench, which gives UPS a global shipping courier a leg up over its competitor with the introduction of its first iPhone application.
Philadelphia, PA (PRWEB) December 8, 2008 -- Reandevou Software today previewed its first serious business application, UPS Workbench, which gives UPS a global shipping courier a leg up over its competitor with the introduction of its first iPhone application.
UPS Workbench takes the basic online features of shipping and puts the power in the hands of the consumers. UPS Workbench enables users to track packages, view rates, determine shipping options and find UPS stores any where in the world using the iPhones GPS capabilities with a single touch.
"We're excited about creating an application that benefits UPS and its consumers, we wanted to bring an application that the world could use on the iPhone" said Troy Simon, Reandevou CEO."
The current release of the product is targeted to the consumer, but we have plans on making the iPhone and UPS Workbench into solution for business as well. UPS Workbench is slated to go on sale in the iTunes App Store early December, just in time for the Christmas package rush.

News Old ideas

starting up a mobile entertainment company
- next great advertising medium
- handle a lot of promotions for the urban demographic

Start web / Linux education package for Netbook
- growing network
- growing Linux or browser centric package
- mulitmedia support /stream server
- installable Linux client to control the machine (prevent children to leave the app)

FLASH on mobile
- research free Flash tool
- webbase Flash tools with Ads

AJAX base education or game creation tools

Python on Symbrian

Write iPhone app and stay at the top of the list for a 1 year
- make 3 to 20 million dollars per year
- food caterlog for delivery service

Operator mobile content revenues to rise to $52bn in 2013 - but only if they move towards a smart pipe business model, says research

25 November, 2008 09:43
Operator mobile content revenues to rise to $52bn in 2013 - but only if they move towards a smart pipe business model, says research
A new study from Juniper Research has found that Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) will need to fundamentally change their mobile content business models by emphasizing ‘shared value creation' in order to avoid becoming ‘dumb pipes' in the future. Only if they can transform their businesses into ‘smart pipe' service providers, can they significantly increase their income from mobile content - estimated at $23bn in 2008, rising to $52bn by 2013 according to Juniper.
The global mobile content market will be worth $167bn by 2013, shared among players such as MNOs, Content Providers and third parties such as content aggregators and billing companies.
Currently MNOs take a significant percentage of the revenues generated by Content Providers when they use their networks. This has resulted in high prices for end-users and consumers being deterred from accessing mobile content on a wider scale. This unattractive situation has become a disincentive for MNOs and Content Providers alike, with some Content Providers attempting to bypass the MNOs or exit the sector altogether. Clearly, the situation needs to change. But it will be down to the MNOs to make the first moves, says the report.
The new report examines the three main scenarios facing the operators and the sector as a whole - the ‘Dumb Pipe', ‘Smart Pipe', and ‘On-Portal' routes. Modelling the market in such a way is said to have enabled Juniper to create a detailed forecasting and modeling tool to examine how a future market may develop under different conditions.
According to report author Andrew Kitson, "One single scenario will not win out since different business and revenue models have to co-exist in the mobile content market. Players will adopt multiple approaches that best fit their markets. Crucially, if MNOs are to benefit financially, they need to move away from their Dumb Pipe roots to the Smart Pipe model, though they will clash with the content providers which already dominate the Smart Pipe. A compromise needs to be found."
If MNOs can change their ARPU-driven mindsets to focus on value creation and support for their partners, they can swiftly make the change.
Other findings include
Under the Smart Pipe model, MNOs will not see their share of the overall mobile content market rise appreciably, but revenue will rise in value by 125% over the 2008-2013 period.
Under the On-Portal scenario, content providers will see their share of the market rise from 54% in 2008 to 68% by 2013, providing they can secure more attractive terms from MNOs.
Third parties - especially aggregators and billing service providers - will come under pressure from larger players (such as MNOs) seeking to achieve horizontal integration and economies of scale.
The report provides coverage and forecasts from a global perspective as well as from a regional viewpoint by looking at how the market will grow or wane under the On-Portal, Dumb Pipe, and Smart Pipe scenarios around the world.

Blackberry Storm on Verizon network - carriers paired with devices

Verizon - Blackberry Storm
T-mobile - G1
AT&T - iPhone
Sprint Nextel -Samsung Instinct

Chunghwa Telecom gets iPhone 3G Dec 2008

Chunghwa Telecom (CHT), on November 14, announced it has obtained exclusive sales rights for the iPhone 3G in the Taiwan market, with launch tentatively slated for December 2008.

Eventually, iPhone 3G will landed in Taiwan. In most of the cases, only the No. 2 operator accept Apple offer of iPhone, because the revenue model and threat of becoming pipe provider.

Now, the No. 1st Taiwanese operator is taking agressive approach. ...to become pipe provider...

China market: Smartphone sales expand over 12% on year in September

11 November 2008
Volume sales of smartphones in the China market grew 12.2% on year to 2.53 million units in September 2008. Nokia, Motorola and Dopod China were the top-three branded vendors, according to data from China-based CCID Consulting.
Nokia ranked the top vendor taking up a 70% share of the smartphone segment in China in September, followed by Motorola with 18.9%, Dopod with 5.2%, Samsung Electronics with 2.6%, and Sony Ericsson with 1%, CCID said.
The sixth ranked smartphone vendor was China-based Coolpad with a 0.8% share, whereas other domestic branded vendors were unable to make significant gains in the segment, CCID added.

Taiwan market: Chunghwa Telecom's January-October net profit attains almost 95% of 2008 goal

11 November 2008
Chuunghwa Telecom (CHT) has reported a net profit of NT$41.31 billion for January-October 2008, which accounts for 94.7% of the NT$43.60 billion projected for this year.
CHT had about 990,000 FTTx (fiber to the home/building) subscribers and 550,000 8Mbps ADSL subscribers as of the end of October 2008, the company indicated.
Taiwan Mobile (TWM) and Far EasTone Telecommunications (FET), the other two of the top three operators of mobile communication services in Taiwan, have reported consolidated sales of NT$58.18 billion and NT$52.61 billion respectively for the first 10 months of 2008.

手機作業平台勢力版圖大挪移, 4大平台搶當2哥 Symbian地盤嚴重縮水

2008/11/10
全球手機作業系統之爭愈演愈烈，不僅蘋果(Apple)及RIM自家作業系統市佔率大幅躍進，由宏達電領軍的微軟(Microsoft)Windows Mobile亦力爭上游，加上Linux陣營寄望Android手機熱賣以拉抬市佔率，4大平台紛放眼2哥地位，使得龍頭Symbian難置身事外，地盤已明顯遭到侵蝕，近期市佔率大幅滑落逾20個百分點。
由諾基亞(Nokia)所領軍Symbian近期表現灰頭土臉，不僅諾基亞市佔率跌破40%，日系手機廠商出貨同樣低吟，使得Symbian市佔率大幅衰退，一口氣從2007年第3季68.1%，滑落到2008年第3季僅46.6%，亦是5大作業系統唯一出貨衰退者。不過，由於Symbian全力轉型為免費授權開放平台，若能開創嶄新商業模式，其市佔率應可力守不墜。
蘋果與RIM堪稱第3季全球智慧型手機市場最大贏家，出貨量年增率各達523%及83.5%，同時亦帶領自家作業系統市佔率持續提升，分別較2007年同期大增13.7及4.6個百分點；儘管蘋果首度從RIM手中搶下2哥地位，但RIM在第4季推出Bold、Storm等多款旗艦新機，加上蘋果調降第4季iPhone 3G出貨預估，RIM很有可能再搶回2哥地位。
在蘋果與RIM夾擊下，微軟Windows Mobile在智慧型手機平台首度落居第4，所幸在宏達電與三星電子(Samsung Electronics)帶動下，其出貨量仍成長42.9%，市佔率提升到13.6%，宏達電亦僅以些微差距落後摩托羅拉(Motorola)，成為全球智慧型手機5哥，由於其同時擁抱Windows Mobile及Android平台，市佔率很可能在第4季再上一層樓。
值得一提的是，微軟Windows Mobile近期雖獲得樂金電子(LG Electronics)力挺，但由於下一代Windows Mobile 7確定延後到2010年才推出，2009年將先推出Windows Mobile 6.5墊檔，已引發不少合作夥伴憂心，畢竟Windows Mobile 6.5與現有Windows Mobile 6.1突破不大，僅在上網功能進行局部改善，而強調全新觸控與手動操作介面的Windows Mobile 7卻久候不至，可能削弱Windows Mobile手機競爭力。
2008年第3季蘋果、RIM、微軟及Linux在手機作業系統市佔均有所提升，其中，蘋果、RIM及微軟差距不到4個百分點，分別為17.3%、15.2%及13.6%(Canalys最新統計)，Linux則以5.1%排名第5，儘管這4個平台仍難撼動Symbian龍頭地位，但已明顯瓜分Symbian既有地盤。

HTC revenues hit new high in October on launch of new models

Nov 7, 2008
High Tech Computer (HTC) saw its revenues grow 22.4% on year to hit a record high of NT$16.04 billion (US$489 million) in October buoyed by the launch of new models, including T-Mobile G1 phones, according to company data.

Taiwan-based OpenMoko launches Android-based handset

In addition to High Tech Computer (HTC) and Asustek Computer, Taiwan-based OpenMoko has also launched an Android-based handset recently, according to the company.

Compal Communications October revenues at 13-month high

Nov 5, 14:17
Taiwan-based ODM handset maker Compal Communications saw its revenues grow 22.6% on year to NT$4.25 billion (US$129.2 million) in October, the highest

MediaTek to launch 2.8M TD-SCDMA handset chips in 2009

Oct 31, 01:15
MediaTek plans to become the first chip maker to introduce high-speed 2.8M TD-SCDMA handset chips to China-based handset makers in the beginning of 2009, according to industry players

Vodafone places mid-range handset orders with Foxlink, says paper

Vodafone has signed a cooperation agreement with Foxlink (Cheng Uei Precision Industry) for the purchase of a significant quantity of mid-range handsets, according to a Chinese-language Commercial Times report.The handsets to be manufactured by Foxlink for Vodafone will have multimedia-rich functionality built-in using handset solutions from MediaTek. Shipments are to begin in 2009, said the paper, which also noted that China-based ZTE has also landed

Qualcomm and Foxlink sign 3G CDMA module/modem card license agreement

Telecom service Oct 28, 12:34
Qualcomm, a leading developer and innovator of advanced wireless technologies and data solutions, and Foxlink (Cheng Uei Precision Industry)

Keen competition - Windows Smartphone, i-mate Delist

Windows Smartphone Manufacturer to Delist from London Stock Exchange
­UK-listed Dubai-based Windows smartphone manufacturer, i-mate has reported sales for the six-month ended of September of $20.6 million compared to $46.2 million for the same time last year. This resulted in an estimated operating loss of $10.8 million loss compared to $29.4 million loss for the same time last year.
The company has cash amounting to $11.2 million and stock at $9.1 million with debtors of $3.9 million and creditors of $2.6 million. As stated in the year end results on 29 September the last 2 months have seen global handheld sales drop considerably and this trend is looking set to continue.
Earlier this year, the company blamed Qualcomm for delays in providing chipsets, leading to problems with the launch of several smartphones in the US market.
"Although we have devices which are not dependent on this chipset, it has a significant impact on the range of product we have to sell," Chief Executive Officer Jim Morrison said in a statement at the time. The shortage affected two of the seven Windows Mobile based models it sells.
The company has now decided to de-list its shares from London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM) stock market and will hold a shareholder vote next month. As the CEO, Jim Morrison owns the majority of the company's shares - the resolution is certain to be passed. The delisting should save the company some US$2 million a year in stock-market costs.
Jim Morrison commented “It was made quite clear at the time of our preliminary results last month that the economics and business benefits of being a quoted Company were becoming increasing unclear. Our business and indeed the market continue to weaken as global consumer confidence slides. I fully expect i-mate to be a private company within 60 days.”
If the resolution is passed the Company’s non-executive chairman, Bernard Cragg and non-executive director, Bill Gorjance, will resign and Jim Morrison will take on the role of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

Texas Instruments seen posting lower revenue

17 October 2008
Chipmaker downgraded ahead of third quarter report on concerns of wireless market share weakness.
Texas Instruments Inc. will report third-quarter results on Monday, with analysts expecting the chip giant to post 7% lower revenue as the tech industry reels from the uncertainty in the broader market.
The weakening economy, and concerns about TI's ability to maintain market share in the wireless sector prompted Collins Stewart to downgrade the company to a sell."Weakening trends across key end markets will likely cause TI to come in below mid-quarter guidance," analyst Ashok Kumar said in a research note.Analysts expect the chip maker to report earnings of 44 cents a share on revenue of $3.4 billion, according to a consensus survey by FactSet Research. For the year-earlier period, TI reported net income of $776 million, or 54 cents a share, on revenue of $3.66 billion.Analyst Tore Svanberg of Thomas Weisel Partners said he thinks TI will deliver in-line third-quarter results, but said,"We are incrementally concerned about the company's overall backlog visibility into the December quarter "He added,"While we believe TI's business is diversified, we are concerned that low visibility throughout the entire electronics supply chain is resulting in lower bookings activity than otherwise expected at this time of the year."TI surprised analysts by affirming its outlook, especially after a market-share warning from its biggest customer, Nokia Corp.In its revision, TI said it expects third-quarter revenue of $3.33 billion to $3.47 billion, compared with the previous range of $3.26 billion to $3.54 billion. The company also said it expects a profit of 42 to 46 cents a share, compared with the previous range of 41 to 47 cents.TI's dominant position in the market for cellphone chips has been shaken by the shift among some top customers to a multisupplier strategy. Nokia has decided to work with other suppliers such as Broadcom Corp. and STMicroelectronics NV.Ericsson also began working with other chip makers, including STMicroelectronics.

Sony Ericsson posts net loss, cost cuts on track

17 October 2008
Handset maker's loss smaller than analysts expected; higher Q4 volumes likely to be offset by lower prices.
Sony Ericsson Friday said it swung to a third-quarter net loss on weaker sales and slowing consumer demand, but cost-cutting steps helped the phone maker lose less than expected.
The company said it sees the global handset market growing about 10% this year from 1.1 billion units in 2007, with growth highest in emerging markets."As expected, the third quarter has continued to be challenging for Sony Ericsson," said Chief Executive Dick Komiyama, He added,"We have moved forward with our plans to align operations and resources with the consolidation of R&D facilities into a more agile and cost efficient organizational structure."Analysts said the loss was smaller than expected and, at 0835 GMT, Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson shares traded up 6.5% at 50.90 Swedish kronor, outperforming a broadly higher Stockholm market.Sony Ericsson, a joint venture between Sony Corp. of Japan and Ericsson of Sweden, posted a net loss of EUR25 million compared to a EUR267 million net profit a year ago as slowing growth in mature markets weighed on earnings.It said its gross margin, which fell to 22% from 31% a year earlier, was hit by increased price competition and higher costs from suppliers. While new products helped offset some of the loss, strong competition, especially in Europe, weighed on earnings.Nomura analyst Richard Windsor said that, although the gross margin suffered, cost control helped minimize the impact on the operating margin. He said the situation for the company isn't likely to change in the fourth quarter as higher volumes will likely be offset by lower prices.The company shipped 25.7 million phones in the period ending Sept. 30, up 5.3% from the previous quarter. Its market share remained flat at 8% in the second quarter.It said sales were down slightly in the Americas and Asia, while Western Europe sales increase 5% from the second quarter.Handelsbanken analyst Jan Dworsky said the earnings were better than expected, given the low expectations. He said many expected a sharper loss and lower volumes."I'm not sure how they did it, but it paid off," he said. He reiterated his reduce rating and SEK50 target price for Ericsson.After two profit warnings this year, Sony Ericsson in July flagged the third quarter as particularly challenging, and said it aimed to cut operating costs by EUR300 million annually by mid-2009 to help the company become more agile and efficient.Unlike its Finnish rival Nokia Corp., which dominates emerging market sales, Sony Ericsson is largely dependent on developed markets sales, making it more vulnerable to slipping demand for high-end devices in mature markets, where it has greater exposure.Sony Ericsson's net sales dropped 9.7% to EUR2.81 billion from EUR3.12 billion. The average selling price for its handsets dropped to EUR109 from EUR116 in the second quarter and from EUR120 a year earlier, due in part to sales of more lower-priced phones.

Sony Ericsson Sales Drop 10% - Loss Shrinks

17 Oct 2008
­Sony Ericsson has reported a 10% drop in sales to €2,808 million (US$3,777 million) compared to the third quarter of 2007, citing a shift in production to cheaper phones as well as exchange rate fluctuations. The company posted a net loss of €25 million (US$33.6 million) - lower than the average of €74 million loss which had been expected by analysts.
Gross margin also decreased year-on-year and sequentially due to continued price pressure at a time of adverse cost trends in the supplier base.
The company estimated that its mobile phone market share for the third quarter remained flat and is estimated to be around 8%.
"As expected the third quarter has continued to be challenging for Sony Ericsson. We have moved forward with our plans to align operations and resources with the consolidation of R&D facilities into a more agile and cost efficient organisational structure. As previously announced, our target remains to reduce operating expenses by Euro 300 million annually by the end of the second quarter 2009, with the full effects expected to appear in the second half of 2009.These plans are progressing in line with expectations," said Dick Komiyama, President, Sony Ericsson.
As communicated previously, Sony Ericsson paid a second dividend to the parent companies totalling €300 million (€150 million each) in the quarter based on 2007 earnings, and at the end of September 2008 Sony Ericsson had net cash of €1.4 billion (US$1.9 billion).
Sony Ericsson forecasts that the global handset market for 2008 will grow at a rate of around 10% from more than 1.1 billion units in 2007, while the industry ASP will continue to decline. The majority of this growth is expected to be in emerging markets where lower priced phones dominate.
Posted to the site on 17th October 2008

Economic of scale can help? Nokia

Nokia's scale helps it weather economic storm
By Nick Wood , Total Telecom
16 October 2008
Net profit down 30% on year but CEO says handset maker is "well positioned" in current climate.
Nokia on Thursday reported a 30% decline in net profit from 2007, citing aggressive pricing competition and a tougher economic environment, but said its scale and margins leave it in a strong position.
"We have our eyes wide open to what's happening out there," said Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, CEO of Nokia, during the company's quarterly analyst call."But Nokia is strong, we have the scale, [and] we have one of the best brands in the world," he commented.Third-quarter profit fell to €1.09 billion from €1.56 billion a year earlier and group revenue declined 5% from €12.99 billion in 2007 to €12.24 billion.Sales at Nokia's core devices and services business declined 7% year on year to €8.61 billion from €9.24 billion.One analyst shares Kallasvuo's confidence."In the current economic environment, out of all of the handset vendors, Nokia is best positioned to deal with it," said Carolina Milanesi, research director at Gartner, who explained to Total Telecom that it has the size and distribution strategy to cope with tougher times."Economies of scale are going to matter more and more," she added.Indeed, Nokia shipped 117.8 million handsets during the third quarter, an increase of 5% from 2007, when it shipped 111.7 million.That said, on a sequential basis, the Finnish handset maker saw shipments to Latin America fall by 28.1%, while growth in its North American and European shipments was largely flat at 0% and 1.1% respectively.As such, Nokia's market share fell slightly to 38% from 40% in the second quarter, a decline it attributed to aggressive competition on pricing from its rivals."It sometimes happens in the market, we decided tactically not to participate…We will try to take market share in a sustainable manner," said Kallasvuo."But don't expect us to give our competitors a free ride," he said.Yet Gartner's Milanesi hinted at weakness in Nokia's handset portfolio.She said that Nokia's top-of-the-range N96 model, which launched in early September, is unlikely to drive ARPU."Operators are getting pretty smart when it comes to subsidising the handsets that are likely to drive ARPU, and there's a danger that the N96 will be seen as an upgrade to the N95, rather than a completely new handset," she said.She also explained that Nokia's 5800 is a late arrival to the fiercely competitive touch screen scene, which could explain why it lost some of its market share."Samsung with its Omnia device will have picked up some volumes, you also have the HTC Diamond, and the 3G iPhone of course – so there has been a lot of competition on the touch screen side that Nokia couldn't compete with," Milanesi explained.Still, Nokia maintained steady operating margins of 12.0% across the group, with its handset business showing a slight dip to 18.6% from 21.2% during the same period in 2007.Its infrastructure arm Nokia Siemens Networks meanwhile saw its margins improve from -3.3% in the third quarter of 2007 to 0% in the three months ending 30 September.Going forward Nokia said despite the financial crisis it expects mobile shipments across the sector to increase during the seasonally strong fourth quarter, and for full year industry volumes to reach 1.26 billion units, up from 1.14 billion in 2007.However, Milanesi has taken a more pessimistic view on the handset market for the fourth quarter."We don't expect the weakness in Q3 to be made up in the fourth quarter," she said.Nokia's CFO Rick Simonson also said the infrastructure market remains uncertain, as Nokia Siemens Networks reported a 4.7% decline in year-on-year sales, and a 13.9% drop sequentially from the second quarter."[Nokia Siemens Networks] saw a sharp net sales decline....The infrastructure market is still in a tough environment as we go into what is a seasonally weak quarter," he said.

Mobile application trends

mashup on mobile phone - eventspace

5 most discussed applications
- Gaming (Super Monkey ball)
- Social networking (Facebook)
- Music (remote)
- Music (Tuner)
- Music (Shazam)

Handset Navigation Users Will Reach 70 Million in 2014

­According to a new research report by Berg Insight the number of mobile subscribers downloading navigation routes using their mobile handsets is expected to grow from 16 million users in 2008 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27.9 percent to reach 70 million users in 2014.

Revenues from subscriptions and advertisements are expected to reach € 597 million by 2014 from € 177 million in 2008, a CAGR of 22.4 percent.

The growing adoption will be driven mainly by the introduction of GPS-technology in smartphone handsets and bundling of navigation applications with mobile devices or service plans. Following the introduction of the first GPS enabled handset in Europe in 2007, there has been a massive increase in the number of models available from Nokia and other manufacturers. Increasing volumes have paved the way for widespread adoption of mobile navigation services in Europe. Meanwhile the US market has continued to grow to a level of 6 million active subscribers to mobile navigation services in Q2-2008. The anticipated launch of GPS enabled handsets by the GSM operators AT&T and T-Mobile USA are expected to drive further growth in 2009.

André Malm, telecom analyst, Berg Insight says, “The mobile industry is now starting to reap the benefits from the introduction of GPS enabled handsets. However, most mobile navigation users only use the service during a free trial period. The key challenge will be to convert these test-users into paying subscribers.”

Posted to the site on 10th October 2008

SiRF Signs Patent Deal with Qualcomm - Gets Broadcom Review

­GPS based platforms vendor, SiRF Technology Holdings has announced a deal with Qualcomm and also received a review notice from the International Trade Commission (ITC) regarding its ongoing patent dispute with Broadcom.

The review by the ITC covers part of the Initial Determination by the ITC Administrative Law Judge that certain SiRF products infringed upon six patents held by Global Locate, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Broadcom. Specifically the Commission has determined to review claims on three out of the six patents.

"We are pleased that the Commission has accepted our appeal to review the initial ruling of the Administrative Law Judge," said Kanwar Chadha, founder of SiRF Technology. "We are working closely with our customers to implement multiple measures to enable them to continue to ship their innovative products into the U.S. market."

The company has also signed a mutual Patent Non-Assertion Agreement with Qualcomm covering each party's patent portfolio.

"As an innovation driven company, we respect Qualcomm's vast intellectual property portfolio," said Kanwar Chadha, founder of SiRF Technology. "We believe that this agreement between leading innovators of AGPS enabled location technology will help expand the market for location enabled products, services and content, while enabling each of us to compete in the market place based on product merits."

Posted to the site on 10th October 2008

NeuStar Delivers Unified Mobile IM Service to Hong Kong Operator

­Hutchison Telecom Hong Kong has ordered a mobile instant messaging platform from NeuStar, to enable its customers to have access to Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger and the 3 Community from one central application. Hutchison Telecom trades under the Three brandname. The integrated software client is available for free download on the company's mobile portal "Planet 3", and is available for dozens of the most popular mobile phones on the market.
"The success we have experienced with mobile Instant Messaging to date has encouraged us to develop new services and better ways to integrate messaging into people's lives," said Amy Lung, chief operating officer -- Mobile at Hutchison Telecom Hong Kong. "NeuStar has been our trusted partner of choice in delivering simple and effective new messaging services to our customers. The ability to customize several messaging platforms offers users a memorable and personal application that we believe will be hugely popular."
"Our relationship with Hutchison Telecom Hong Kong has been a successful one, and we are pleased that our relationship has been further enhanced by this new initiative," added Allen Scott, general manager of NeuStar Next Generation Messaging (NGM). "Hutchison Telecom Hong Kong is one of the most innovative operators in Asia, and as they begin to offer an increased level of personalization and convenience to their customers, I am certain they will receive tremendous positive response."
Posted to the site on 9th October 2008

MediaTek gearing up for WiMAX and WCDMA markets

2008/10/8
MediaTek is exhibiting its WiMAX and WCDMA (W&W) chips at the 2008 Taipei International Electronics Show (Taitronics), with the WiMAX chips perhaps being mass produced at the end of 2008. WCDMA chip samples have already been sent to customers and related shipments are expected to begin in the first half of 2009. The so-called W&W chips will play an important roles for MediaTek's operation in 2009, company chairman Ming-Kai Tsai indicated.

ZTE Planning $880 Million R&D Center

­China's ZTE is planning a RMB6 billion (US$880 million) R&D centre in Xian, the capital of Shaanxi province. The company said that its Xian Hi-tech Park would bring its research and development, production, outsourcing services and customer service training under one roof.
ZTE Planning $880 Million R&D Center
­China's ZTE is planning a RMB6 billion (US$880 million) R&D centre in Xian, the capital of Shaanxi province. The company said that its Xian Hi-tech Park would bring its research and development, production, outsourcing services and customer service training under one roof.

MStar looks to challenge MediaTek in white-box handset baseband chip market

2008/9/26
According to market watchers, Taiwan IC design house MStar has shipped handset baseband chips to China white-box handset customers priced almost 30% lower than MediaTek's chips. In addition, MStar is also planning to introduce multimedia chips recently, which may affect MediaTek's margins in the future.

China Mobile Seeking Cut-Down Version of Apple's iPhone

China Mobile is expected to officially launch the Apple iPhone on its network shortly - but with some of the functionality removed to comply with Chinese regulations. The South China Morning Post, citing a report from the Daiwa Institute of Research said that the 3G and Wi-Fi services would be disabled on the Chinese model.Daiwa analyst Calvin Huang said that Taiwan Hon Hai Precision Industry, which is responsible for assembling iPhone products for Apple, is waiting for verification from the mainland to ship the phone without W-CDMA and Wi-Fi functions.
As China Mobile is widely expected to have to build outs its eventual 3G network using the Chinese developed TD-SCDMA format, disabling the 3G functionality would make it less appealing to users who might buy the handset and unlock it to be used on the expected W-CDMA network from China Telecom.
"Apple shouldn't customise a model of iPhone for the mainland market, given that it only provides a standardised product to operators around the world," Frederick Wong, a BNP Paribas analyst told the newspaper - although making the unit compatible with the Chinese language would be quite a customisation anyway.
China Mobile has been in on/off talks with Apple ever since the iPhone was launched. The talks broke down in January but resumed again in July.
"The talks with Apple to launch the iPhone device in China have resumed because Apple is not insisting on revenue-sharing anymore," China Mobile Ltd. spokeswoman Rainie Lei said at the time.
According to figures supplied by China Mobile to research firm In-Stat earlier this year, there were over 400,000 unlocked Apple iPhones being detected on its network.
In-Stat says that it has never doubted that the iPhone will achieve greater success than iPod in China if Apple teams with China Mobile to launch its Chinese version. There are two reasons. Firstly, different from the US where the smartphone market is fairly limited, appealing primarily to business users, The smartphone market in China, though, is an entertainment-oriented individual consumer market. The main reasons that Chinese mobile users purchase smartphones include entertainment (such as music players, cameras and video) and to access mobile Internet applications (such as IM, e-book, and games).
The company also estimates that 20% of handsets sold in China in 2007 cost more than 4,000 RMB (US$533). In another words, there are an estimated 28 million potential users for the iPhone in China.
On the web: South China Morning Post

Research In Motion's Profit, Forecast Miss Estimates (Update3)

Sept. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Research In Motion Ltd. forecast third-quarter profit that missed analysts' estimates after boosting marketing to ward off Apple Inc.'s new iPhone and introduce handsets. The shares fell 21 percent in late trading.
Profit will be 89 cents to 97 cents a share on sales of as much as $3.1 billion, Research In Motion said today in a statement. Analysts predicted 99 cents in profit on average and revenue of $2.96 billion, according to a Bloomberg survey.
Research In Motion's earnings forecast missed projections for the second straight quarter as it readied four new phones. The cost of promoting new models contributed to $379.6 million in sales and marketing costs last quarter, almost double the year- earlier amount. The company also had to delay the U.S. release of its Bold product, which will challenge the iPhone 3G.
``The cost of selling and launching all these platforms is much higher than what people thought,'' Pablo Perez-Fernandez, an analyst with Global Crown Capital in San Francisco, said in an interview. He recommends buying the shares, which he doesn't own.
Second-quarter net income rose 72 percent to $495.5 million, or 86 cents a share, from $287.7 million, or 50 cents, a year earlier, the company said. Analysts predicted a profit of 87 cents on average for the period, which ended Aug. 30. Revenue climbed 88 percent to $2.58 billion, compared with a projection of $2.59 billion from analysts.
Shares Plunge
Research In Motion, based in Waterloo, Ontario, fell $20.06 to $77.47 in extended trading after closing at $97.53 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The shares have dropped 14 percent this year.
The company is working on a touch-screen phone and an update to its Curve consumer model, in addition to the Bold and a flip- phone version of its Pearl, according to Mike Abramsky, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets in Toronto.
Some of the new phones aren't as profitable as older models, co-Chief Executive Officer Jim Balsillie said on a conference call today. The Bold, for example, has a brighter screen, making it more expensive to produce.
``It's difficult to pass on all these costs to customers,'' Balsillie said.
That will push down gross margin, the percentage of sales remaining after deducting production costs, to 47 percent in the current quarter from 50.7 percent, Vice President Edel Ebbs said on the call. That measure may drop further in the fourth quarter, she said.
Rising Costs
Sales expenses in the current quarter may climb between 10 percent and 11 percent from the previous period, Ebbs said.
Research In Motion added 2.6 million users last quarter, compared with a 2.64 million estimate from Perez-Fernandez. The company expects to add 2.9 million users this quarter, missing Perez-Fernandez's projection of 3.09 million. Research In Motion currently has about 19 million BlackBerry users.
The company, which once focused mainly on corporate users, is offering cheaper phones as it competes for consumers with Apple's $199 iPhone. About 40 percent of Research In Motion's customers are now consumers, while the rest are business customers. The U.S. accounts for more than half of the company's annual revenue.
In the past quarter, Verizon Wireless reduced the price tag on the BlackBerry Pearl to $79 from $99.
Apple, meanwhile, is going after corporate users with features such as access to office e-mail. Based in Cupertino, California, Apple introduced the iPhone 3G in July, selling a million units in the product's first three days. The original iPhone, which ran on a slower network, debuted in June 2007.
Wireless carriers are promoting so-called smart phones, devices with e-mail and Web-browsing features, as revenue from traditional land-line service declines. Research In Motion increased its share of the U.S. smart-phone market to 53.6 percent in the second quarter from 44.5 percent in the first, according to Framingham, Massachusetts-based research firm IDC.
To contact the reporter on this story: Vivek Shankar in San Francisco at vshankar3@bloomberg.net

China Mobile may offer Android handsets through cooperation with HTC, say Taiwan makers

2008/9/25
China Mobile Communications (China Mobile), the largest operator of mobile communication services in China, may take the initiative to offer Android handsets in the China market through outsourced production by Taiwan-based High Tech Computer (HTC), the maker of the T-Mobile G1, according to industry sources in Taiwan.

Android and Windows Mobile smartphones are complementary, says HTC

2008/9/25
Android and Windows Mobile handsets can complement each other in the market, offering consumers and telecom service providers more choice, according to John Wang, CMO, High Tech Computer (HTC), who added in saying the company will continue to simultaneously develop smartphones based on the two platforms.

Sony Ericsson boss says studying Android system

LUND, Sweden (Reuters) - Sony Ericsson is studying Google's Android mobile operating system, but was not able to embrace it yet, President Dick Komiyama said on Wednesday.
"We are certainly studying this opportunity, although we're not in a position to do this at this moment," Komiyama told journalists at a media event in the southern Swedish city of Lund, where the company has a research and development site.
"We should look at this application," he said. "We are certainly interested."
Android is an open source platform for designing mobile devices which Google (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) says will encourage innovation by allowing outside software developers to tinker with the system and create better mobile programs and services.
However, Komiyama said Sony Ericsson was already part of the Symbian Foundation, a group which since June has attracted some 40 companies and gives developers free access to its software.
Deutsche Telekom AG's T-Mobile unveiled on Tuesday the first cellphone that uses Android software. The phone is being touted as Google's answer to the iPhone. The G1 phone, made by HTC Corp, has a touch-sensitive screen, a computer-like keyboard and Wi-Fi connections.

T-Mobile Planning "Google Phone" Launch at End of Sept - Report

T-Mobile USA is reported to be planning a launch of its first Google Android phone within just a few weeks. Sources told the Reuters news agency that the mobile operator would make an announcement in New York City, and said that Sept 23rd was the probable date for the press conference.

There had been reports that the phone would be delayed - but T-Mobile has said that it is still on target for a launch in (or by) October.

"T-Mobile is on track to bring an Android-based phone to market in the fourth quarter," said a T-Mobile spokesman earlier this month. "We haven't announced any specific details about the Android phone at this point and don't comment on rumors."

T-Mobile did not comment when Reuters contacted them today.

The touchscreen based smartphone will be supplied by Taiwan's High Tech Computer, or HTC, a company which has traditionally focused on Windows Mobile based handsets. There were unconfirmed rumours last month that Sony Ericsson is in talks to buy HTC.

Google is also widely expected to announce improvements to the Android platform in the next few weeks - including a new software development kit (SDK) following complaints about the current platform.

On the web: Reuters

Posted to the site on 11th September 2008

Nokia Expects to Support China's TD-SCDMA Standard

11 Sept 2008

Nokia is planning to support all three of the proposed 3G standards in China by releasing handsets for each of the networks. It is anticipated that China Mobile will use the Chinese developed 3G standard, TD-SCDMA, while China Telecom will use CDMA2000 and China Unicom will use WCDMA.
Nokia's vice-president of Greater China sales, David Tang told the South China Morning Post that the company aims to retain its number one position in the market.

As China Mobile has a market share of around 70%, supporting the TD-SCDMA format is essential for any handset vendor seeking to retain their market position.

"Nokia supports the development of TD-SCDMA. We will have the handsets in the market when the service becomes active," said Mr Tang in an interview at Nokia's Green Campus headquarters in Beijing.

Although Nokia does not currently have any TD-SCDMA based handsets, the company is a 49% holder in a Chinese joint venture, Potevio(中国普天 www.potevio.com ) with China Putian to develop network infrastructure based on the 3G standard, so it has access to the necessary technical expertise. Potevio was set up in 2005 and has also been the major supplier of equipment to China Mobile's TD-SCDMA trial networks in Tianjin and Qinhuangdao.

Nokia sold just over 70 million mobile phones in China during 2007, giving it a 42% market share.

On the web: South China Morning Post

Posted to the site on 11th September 2008

Velocity Mobile Announces Availability of Its First Touchscreen Phone

Velocity Mobile has announced the retail availability of its first touchscreen phone, the Velocity 103. The Velocity Mobile 103 combines Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, an Odyssey Interface, Velocity Over The Air updates (Vota) and will ship by the end of September.

Velocity 103
Velocity Mobile, in collaboration with Inventec, designs and engineers 2G and 3G mobile devices and data cards based on Qualcomm and Samsung platforms.

"Consumers these days are demanding more from their phones. Our research tells us that people want experiences, not applications and functions," said David Hayes, president and managing director, Velocity Mobile. "Velocity Mobile has brought together some of the greatest minds and best of breed partners in the industry to deliver positive experience and value to consumers."

Velocity Mobile's core leadership team collectively has nearly forty years' experience in innovative mobile engineering, design, sales and marketing, and is working in collaboration with Inventec Corporation, one of the world's top three original design manufacturers (ODMs) for notebook computers.

Posted to the site on 10th September 2008

Sony Ericsson Announces Xperia Launch Date

Sony Ericsson has finally confirmed the launch date for its first Windows Mobile phone - the Xperia X1. The phone will be initially available to consumers in the UK, Germany and Sweden from the 30th Sept and available in other markets across Europe, Asia and Latin America throughout Q4 2008.

Availability dates for North America, China, Australia and Russia along with other countries not mentioned above will be announced by local markets in the coming months.

"We are extremely pleased with the innovation and new user experience we have created for consumers on the Xperia X1," said Rikko Sakaguchi CVP and Head of Creation and Development at Sony Ericsson.

The Xperia X1 is the first product under Sony Ericsson's new premium sub-brand Xperia.

Posted to the site on 10th September 2008

Sony Ericsson Looking at Unlimited Music Downloads Service

Sony Ericsson is reported to be working on a mobile music service which would offer handset purchasers an unlimited download of music tracks. The move is expected to compete directly with the similar platform from Nokia which is just launching in the UK and offers 12 months worth of unlimited downloads with selected new handsets.

The Financial Times reported that the company is in talks with all the major music labels about a product launch prior to the end of this year.

Warner Music, Universal Music and Sony BMG are all suppliers to the Nokia service - although Sony, the 50:50 joint owner of Sony Ericsson recently took full control of the BMG music label.

Dan Cryan, an analyst at Screen Digest, told the newspaper that competition had encouraged Sony Ericsson to launch a product it had once rejected as devaluing music.

“Sony Ericsson’s market share is shrinking,” he said. “If everybody is launching 'all you can eat’ services, which make handsets more attractive to end users and to operators, they don’t have much choice, especially when so much of their brand value is built around the Walkman.”

On the web: Financial Times

Posted to the site on 9th September 2008

Sony Ericsson Shows Off 3G Slider Phone

Sony Ericsson has shown off a new 3G slider phone - the G705. The handset comes with built in aGPS, Wi-Fi, HSDPA and 3.2 megapixel camera.
"The G705 is ideal for those who need a bit of help organising their busy life." said Catherine Cherry, Global product marketing manager at Sony Ericsson. "This life-enhancing phone has everything you need to keep track of your daily activities and is perfect for keeping in touch with friends. It also allows you to stay fully up-to-date thanks to the full HTML browser, email support, and desktop RSS feeds - all delivered at turbo 3G speeds."

Also announced today is the G705u, the first UMA enabled phone from Sony Ericsson. UMA enables users to seamlessly roam between the mobile network and local area networks thanks to GSM/Wi-Fi dual capabilities. The G705u is exclusive to the operator Orange in its territories.

In addition, Sony Ericsson is pleased to today announce a partnership with Google meaning that YouTube will be integrated into selected upcoming models from Sony Ericsson. This capability will allow users to instantly download and upload video directly from their phone to YouTube. The G705 will be YouTube compatible and further models will be announced at a later stage.

The G705 and G705u (exclusive to Orange) support GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 and UMTS/HSDPA 2100. G705 will be available in selected markets from early Q4.

The G705 will also be available in a version for American markets supporting networks GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 and UMTS/HSUPA 850/1900/2100. G705 for American markets will be available early Q1 2009.

Posted to the site on 9th September 2008

SIM Technology eyes TD-SCDMA phone tenders

Frederick Yeung
Sep 09, 2008
SIM Technology Group, a contract manufacturer of mobile telephones on the mainland, expects to grow its market share as it goes after the tenders for the next phase of TD-SCDMA 3G phones later this year, according to chief financial officer Richard Chan Tat-wing....

China's mobile phone user base increases to 608.38 million in July

28 August 2008]


There were 608.38 million subscribers of mobile communication services in China as of the end of July 2008, growing by 1.27% on month and by 19.63% on year, according to statistics published by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT, renamed from Ministry of Information Industry) on its Chinese-language web site on August 26.

The number of subscribers at the end of July accounted for 45.6% of the country's population (user density).

Also at the end of July 2008 were there 355.06 million subscribers of fixed telecommunication networks in China, translating into a user density of 27.0%.

In July 2008, mobile phone subscribers in China sent 57.76 billion short messages, averaging 3.08 short messages per phone number a day.

China handset vendors make strong inroads into emerging markets

28 August 2008

Two China-based handset vendors - TCL and Konka - have made more inroads into the global handset market, especially in emerging markets, according to data released by the companies.

TCL has said that it shipped 6.7 million handsets in the first half of this year, up 60% from the same period of 2007.

In particular, TCL's shipments of Alcatel-branded handsets to the EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) and Latin American markets expanded by at an annual rate of 44% and 71%, respectively, in the first half. To sustain its goal to ship 16 million handsets in 2008, the company plans to launch 15 TCL-branded as well as 19 Alcatel-branded handsets in the second half, said the company.

Konka claimed that its shipments of handsets to markets outside China, including India, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, moved up 38% on year in the fist half. Konka has also signed an agreement with Spice Telecom to supply the India-based telecom operator with 10 million handsets in three years.

Arima handset shipments to LGE to jump to 10 million units in 2009

27 August 2008

LG Electronics (LGE), ambitiously eyeing the emerging markets, has placed orders with Arima Communications for at least 12 new 2.5G handsets, with shipments to reach as many as 10 million units in 2009, according to industry sources.

LGE's partnership with Arima has been extending from entry-level and mid-range multimedia handsets to ultra low-cost models. LGE is increasing its outsourcing in line with its thrust into the emerging markets, with an aim to become the world-wide number-three handset vendor in 18 months' time, the sources said.

Arima's handset chip suppliers, MediaTek and Infineon Technologies, are also expected to benefit from the LGE orders, the sources disclosed. MediaTek chips will be used for entry-level and mid-range LGE models, and Infineon solutions will be adopted for the first time for ultra low-cost ones, the sources added.

LGE is outsourcing a minor portion of its orders to Compal Communications for handsets adopting Texas Instrument (TI) chips, while most other orders have gone to Arima, the sources said.

Arima has already secured orders for at least 12 LGE models, with shipments starting towards the end of 2008, the sources said, adding the orders have already extended to the second half of 2009.

Arima currently handles four LGE handsets, with total 2008 shipments expected to reach 3.5-4 million units. Shipments to LGE will reach 10 million units in 2009, an amount comparable to Arima's shipments to its current biggest client Sony Ericsson, the sources commented.

Arima is expected to ship 1.8 million handsets in August, driven by shipments of Sony Ericsson's T303, and September shipments may reach two million units as Arima begins to ship Sony Ericsson's K330, the sources said.

Third-quarter shipments are expected to total five million units, with shipments staying at high levels in October and November, the sources estimated, adding Arima is likely to achieve its 2008 shipments goal of 15 million units.

Ericsson, STMicro merge wireless chip businesses

Vendors create 50/50 joint venture that will enable it to provide full solution to customers, boost competitiveness in market.
Ericsson and STMicroelectronics on Wednesday announced the creation of a mobile chipsets joint venture designed to build scale in the mobile applications space.
The new Geneva-based company, which has yet to be named, will be a 50:50 venture between Ericsson and STMicroelectronics. It should enable the companies to compete better with the likes of Qualcomm and Texas Instruments. Under the terms of the deal, the Swedish vendor will contribute its Ericsson Mobile Platforms business and make a cash payment of $1.1 billion, of which $700 million will be paid to STMicro, leaving the JV with a cash position of $400 million. STMicro will transfer its ST-NXP semiconductor business, which was created in April this year and launched earlier this month; STMicro will first buy the remaining 20% of ST-NXP it does not already own. "The customer is requiring a full solution," said Ericsson president and CEO Carl-Henric Svanberg, at the companies' press conference in London. "The JV will have the scale to successfully compete in the marketplace," he added. Svanberg explained that the move from 2G voice communications to mobile data and Internet services means customers need much more than just "the telephony part" that Ericsson was able to supply. And his counterpart at STMicro, Carlo Bozotti, agreed, noting that the deal will create "a company that will drive the convergence between the communications aspect... and the multimedia features." Both Svanberg and Bozotti were keen to point out that they have the backing of their customers, which include four of the top five global mobile phone manufacturers: Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and LG. "Why don't you combine with ST," customers advised, when Ericsson discussed its options with them, Svanberg said. The companies have put in place an integration management team to oversee the combination of the businesses. In addition, each will provide four members, plus STMicro will appoint a CEO and Ericsson an executive vice president. The chairman and the vice chairman will come from Ericsson and STMicro respectively. "That obviously is going to be me and Carlo," said Svanberg. The business as a whole will employ 8,000 people, but will be divided into two companies. It will be led by a development and marketing company, which will have 7,000 employees and will be consolidated into STMicro's sales. The smaller access technology design company will employ the other 1,000 people and its revenue will be consolidated by Ericsson. Ericsson's intellectual property will not be included in the deal. "The IPRs stay with Ericsson," Svanberg insisted. "The IPR fees are not involved in the JV." Responding to questions from the floor about the state of the Ericsson Mobile Platforms business, Svanberg also said the unit is breaking even, excluding revenue from intellectual property. The vendors insisted that the deal is not about making cost-savings, rather bringing together two complementary businesses, but admitted that there are some savings to be made. "There are opportunities for synergies and we will aggressively work to exploit the synergies," said Svanberg. "The prospects are good in terms of earnings accretion... and we believe a great potential for the long term," added Bozotti.

Motorola Slumps in China

How can the U.S. company be No. 1 again in the world's biggest cell-phone market? It'll need a sharp Razr follow-up to beat Nokia and Samsung for starters
Sanjay Jha, the new co-chief executive officer of Motorola (MOT), is looking for ways to revive the company's handset division, and China is bound to be one of his most important challenges (BusinessWeek.com, 8/4/08). The country should be easy territory for Motorola: China is the world's largest cell-phone market, with more than 500 million people owning mobile handsets, and it wasn't that long ago that Motorola was the market leader. The company, which spent many years building its operations in the country, was No. 1 in China (BusinessWeek.com, 9/23/03) until 2004.

Even after Motorola fell behind Nokia (NOK) in China, it clung to a respectable No. 2 position in the fast-growing market, and in April 2007, that second spot meant Motorola still had more than a 20% share. But as the company's fortunes suffered worldwide, its China business was no longer a sure thing. Over the past 16 months, Motorola's China sales have "plummeted," says Flora Wu, an analyst in Beijing with BDA China, a market research firm. Today, Nokia is tops in China with 38% of the market. No. 2 is now Samsung Electronics, with 16%. Motorola is a distant third, with just 7.5% market share.

What went wrong? To some extent, Motorola in China faces the same problem that plagues the company everywhere: failing to produce an encore to the tremendously successful Razr, which it introduced back in 2004. And coming out with new and interesting models is especially important in China, where big-city consumers replace their phones frequently and put a priority on models that are cool-looking but reasonably priced. Motorola "just had problems launching new and popular models," says Wu. "The Chinese market is one of the most competitive," she says. If you're an executive at a company that doesn't keep pace with what your rivals are launching, "your market share will decline sharply."

An Olympic Gag Order
It hasn't helped that Motorola's biggest rivals have been so good at tackling the China market. Samsung is a global sponsor of the Beijing Olympics, which means it is the only cell-phone maker allowed to advertise in Beijing during the Games. So, while the Korean company plasters billboards and bus stops with ads for its phones, Motorola can't respond. The U.S. company even had to take down a big sign atop its China headquarters in downtown Beijing. Samsung is also sponsoring the Chinese gold-medal-winning men's and women's gymnastics teams. "When they receive a gold medal, they're wearing the Samsung shirt," boasts spokesman Gyehyun Kwon, a Samsung corporate vice-president. "That way, Chinese people [see] Samsung is really helping the Chinese people."

For its part, Nokia remains comfortably ahead of the pack in the country, with models ranging from high-end handsets for affluent residents of big cities like Beijing and Shanghai to inexpensive entry-level phones suitable for new users in the countryside. "Nokia has really covered every segment of the market," says Dave Carini, an analyst in Beijing with market-research firm Maverick China Research. To develop its China business further, the Finnish company announced last month plans for an additional $150 million in its in-house venture capital fund targeting potential investments in China and India.

Restructuring May Boost Motorola
The news from China hasn't been all bleak for Motorola, however. The Schaumburg (Ill.) company has managed to win some important infrastructure contracts recently. For instance, early this month Motorola announced in the first half of the year it had landed $431 million in contracts to provide China Mobile (CHL), the country's top cellular operator, with second-generation GSM equipment. That's up from $394 million for the same period in 2007.

A government-backed restructuring of the country's state-owned operators might also boost Motorola's business, says Simon Leung, president of Motorola Asia-Pacific. Following the restructuring, there will be three Chinese cellular operators: China Mobile, current No. 2 China Unicom (CHU), and China Telecom (CHA), which until now had been a fixed-line operator without a cellular business. Motorola, says Leung, has good relationships with each operator. "We are the only ones with the technology to address the needs of all three of them," he says. "We are in a very good position."

Stay Tuned for New Models
When it comes to handsets, "we do have a gap" with the market leaders, Leung concedes. "We took our eyes off the ball a little bit. We didn't have the phones in the market at the right time." Still, he points to several new models that the company plans to introduce soon. "Stay tuned," he says.

BDA's Wu agrees that Motorola isn't out of the running completely in the Chinese handset market, since the company has significant R&D resources it can utilize to help it rebuild. But Motorola's rivals aren't standing still, and the company's missteps have hurt its reputation among Chinese consumers. "The brand has suffered," she says. "The problem cannot be sorted out in a short period of time."

Einhorn is BusinessWeek's Asia Regional Editor in Hong. With Chi-Chu Tschang in Beijing

Nokia Shows off Carbon Fibre Mobile Phone for High-End Market

Nokia has shown off a new "premium" mobile phone - the Nokia 8800 Carbon Arte, which the company says has been engineered from carbon fibre, titanium, polished glass and stainless steel.
The Nokia 8800 Carbon Arte also offers the unique tap-for-time feature - consumers can tap the steel surface below the display twice and a clock appears on the screen. Background images organically change during the day, giving a unique appearance to the display. The turn-to-mute silencing mechanism allows individuals to silence incoming calls in a discrete manner by turning the phone over, screen-side down.
In addition to the 3G capabilities and 3.2 megapixel auto focus camera and high quality audio, the Nokia 8800 Carbon Arte boasts an OLED display and built-in memory that has been expanded from previous offerings in the range to 4 GB. Meanwhile, Nokia's anti-fingerprint coating reduces smudges on metal and glass and unsightly outer seams are hidden by a unique all-in-one microUSB connector.
The Nokia 8800 Carbon Arte will be available in the 3rd quarter of 2008 with an estimated retail price of EUR 1,100 (US$1,620) exclusive of subsidies and taxes.
Posted to the site on 19th August 2008

Sony Ericsson Turnaround Might Be Delayed to 2010

Mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson admits it sees "challenging" market conditions through 2008, but analysts say any turnaround might not happen until 2010.

Sony Ericsson reports second quarter results18 July 2008
Q2 Highlights:
Break even results amid challenging market conditions and increased competition
Announcement of Open Mobile Software platform and Symbian Foundation
R&D investment continues
Alignment of operations to help restore profitable growth

London, UK - The consolidated financial summary for Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB (Sony Ericsson) for the second quarter ended June 30, 2008 is as follows:

Q2 2007 Q1 2008 Q2 2008
Number of units shipped (million) 24.9 22.3 24.4
Sales (Euro m.) 3,112 2,702 2,820
Gross margin (%) 29.6% 29.2% 23.1%
Operating income (Euro m.) 315 184 -2
Operating margin (%) 10.1% 6.8% -0.1%
Income before taxes (Euro m.) 327 193 8
Net income (Euro m.) 220 133 6
Average selling price (Euro) 125 121 116

Foxconn Shares Plunge 20% on Profit Warning; Outlook Bleak

HONG KONG -(Dow Jones)- Shares in Foxconn International Holdings plunged 20% in early Hong Kong trade after the company warned late Friday its profit for the six-months ended June 30 fell significantly from a year earlier due to changes in product mix and rising operational costs.
Analysts said Foxconn, which makes mobile phones and other consumer electronics for clients such as Nokia and Motorola, isn't likely to see a major turnaround in earnings during the second half of this year as the company grapples with a slowdown in handset demand from the weak global economy.
Typically demand for handsets and other electronic goods rises in the second half of the year spanning the back-to-school and holiday shopping season.
"Although there will be a mild improvement in demand in the second-half due to strong seasonality, 2008 will still be a poor year for Foxconn and other contract handset manufacturers," said Charles Guo, an analyst at JP Morgan.
At the midday break, Foxconn shares were down 20% at HK$6.18, underperforming the benchmark Hang Seng Index, which fell 1.2%. Foxconn didn't give any earnings estimates for the first half in its statement Friday. It posted a net profit of US$324.0 million in the first half of 2007.
Guo expects Foxconn's net profit to fall 8% this year to US$660 million from US$721 million in 2007.
He has a "neutral" rating on Foxconn, with a 12-month price target of HK$8.00.
JP Morgan said global handset original equipment manufacturers are facing declining profitability due to a higher mix of low-price models as well as increasing competition in the high-end segment especially in Western Europe.
HSBC analyst Christine Wang wrote in an Aug. 13 report that she expects a weaker second half for handset manufacturers in Asia, with only a 2% quarter-on-quarter rise in shipments in the third quarter compared with a high single-digit historical increase.
"We still don't know how bad (Foxconn's first half result) is. It could be worse than expected. We expect there will be more earnings downgrades across the board after its results come out Aug 27," said Wang, who cut Foxconn's target price to HK$10.00 from HK$16.00 recently and has an "overweight" rating.
The Taiwan-based blue chip company said in June it expects its gross profit margin to fall this year because of a price war as well as higher costs and corporate taxes in China.
Foxconn said at the time it will continue to migrate its production facilities to low-cost sites internationally and invest aggressively in automation to minimize the decline in its gross profit margin.
Foxconn's weak performance also dragged down shares in some of its peers in Asia as it raised concerns about a weaker-than-usual second half.
In Taiwan, shares of Foxconn's parent, Hon Hai Precision Industry, fell 3.6% to NT$162.5.
Hon Hai is the world's largest contract maker of electronics by revenue.
Shares in Taiwan's Compal Electronics fell 3% to NT$30.35, while Quanta Computer was down 0.8% at NT$45.65. Both companies make notebook computers on a contract basis. Chang Chihming, an investor relations officer at Compal, said the company hasn't seen a slowdown in demand so far in the third quarter.
"We are not as affected as the handphone business. I can already see back-to-school demand and Christmas demand," said Chang, adding that the company expects third-quarter shipments to improve 20% from the second quarter.
HSBC analyst Wanli Wang said the market for handsets is weak, but he doesn't expect this to impact Hon Hai significantly as the company is seeing strong orders for desktop computers as well as game consoles.
18th August 2008

Almost 40% of Smart Phones Shipping in EMEA Have GPS Integrated

A new report Canalys finds that growth slowed in the smart phone market in EMEA in Q2, but total shipments of 12.6 million still made it the second biggest quarter ever in volume terms. Canalys estimates that smart phones represented 13% of all mobile phone shipments.
Nokia remained the market leader by some margin, but the other vendors in the top five posted much higher than average year-on-year growth, with second-placed RIM closing the market share gap by several points, and HTC, Motorola and Samsung more than doubling their shipments.
Both HTC and RIM have been making steady progress toward the one million shipments per quarter mark in EMEA and are now very close to each other in market share terms, but it is possible that they will be overtaken by Apple in Q3 following the launch of the iPhone 3G in many countries in the region.
The smart phone market continues to be boosted by user demand for high-end features. This is unlikely to be dramatically affected by the economic situation in the short term, though operators will likely become even more unwilling to heavily subsidise high-end devices without adequate proof of return, and contract lengths and the time between upgrades are expected to increase. Canalys estimates that 58% of the smart phones that shipped in EMEA in Q2 had integrated Wi-Fi, 13% had stylus or finger-driven touch screens and 38% had integrated GPS.
“Today, many owners are not making full use of their smart phone’s features,” said Canalys senior analyst Pete Cunningham. “Concern over usage costs is still a big barrier, though wider availability of flat rate data plans will help, and usability still needs to improve for certain applications on many devices. People are also wary of draining their battery and not being able to make calls. Battery life isn’t helped by having GPS and Wi-Fi turned on, nor by having a large, bright screen for navigation or web browsing. But there is clear demand for those features and applications, and advances in battery technology would enable quite substantial changes in usage patterns, with all the service revenue benefits that would bring.”
Recent consumer research conducted by Canalys in several European countries reinforces the importance of balancing features against power consumption. In a survey of over 4,000 mobile phone users in March, battery life came out as the aspect of their phone they were least satisfied with. Another survey of 3,000 consumers in June showed that having better battery life than current mobile phones and notebooks would make two-thirds of respondents “more”, or “much more”, likely to purchase a Mobile Internet Device (MID) – a device designed for web browsing on the move. This registered as a stronger influence than the inclusion of features such as GPS, mobile TV or the ability to make phone calls.
As the number of GPS-equipped phones rises, adoption of location-based services (LBS) becomes a more realistic prospect. Canalys’ European consumer surveys also reveal interest in a variety of such services. The most popular are those that relate to driving, such as getting information on local road traffic, speed cameras, open petrol stations and current fuel prices. The services that fewest respondents thought would be useful were those that delivered information on local cinemas and programme times, and local retail price comparison and stock searches.
“Something that stood out in the latest survey was that those who already owned a Portable Navigation Device (PND) showed only a slight preference toward paying to have these services on their PND rather than on their mobile phone,” commented Canalys analyst Tim Shepherd. “There is already quite high acceptance in principle that even key driving-related location services would be delivered to the phone.”
With 4.8 million PNDs shipping in EMEA in Q2, and 4.7 million integrated GPS smart phones, it is clear that PND vendors will have to adapt quickly to the rising threat posed by phone-based navigation solutions and location-based services, even if most of those GPS phones today are not being used for vehicle navigation.

Mobile Email Supplier Synchronica Buys AxisMobile

Mobile e-mail vendor, Synchronica is acquiring consumer mobile email specialist AxisMobile for US$4.9 million in an all shares transaction. Synchronica also stated that it has raised additional funds of US$10million, from new and existing institutional investors, which brings the total funding secured in 2008 to US$18 million. The additional funds will be used to accelerate product integration and fuel the growth of the combined business in emerging markets such as China, Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Latin America.

AxisMobile’s consumer mobile email platform complements Synchronica’s Mobile Gateway software by adding 'email to SMS’ and 'email to MMS’ gateways as well as a client-less solution for WAP/xHTML browser access. AxisMobile’s patented Optimizer email transcoding gateway further adds the ability to display a large variety of attachments such as Word, Excel and Powerpoint presentations on standard feature phone handsets that would otherwise be unable to support such functionality.
The AxisMobile acquisition will also enlarge Synchronica’s footprint in emerging markets, by adding a strong sales force and key customer contracts in the relatively untapped areas of Eastern Europe, CIS and Russia, to Synchronica’s existing sales presence in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.
Commenting on the acquisition, Synchronica CEO Carsten Brinkschulte said: “The fundraising and the acquisition of AxisMobile is a dramatic acceleration for Synchronica and I believe that it will build value for our shareholders. We aim to build a world leader in the market of consumer mobile email and synchronization solutions, and this acquisition is a key milestone that will improve our competitive positioning and accelerate our commercial growth. It will increase our ability to sell to customers, particularly to those in emerging economies, where we see the largest potential growth for mobile email and synchronization. With the fundraising and the acquisition of AxisMobile, Synchronica now has sufficient mass and funding to take advantage of the outstanding opportunity to exploit the commercial potential of mass-market mobile email. The next few years will be an exciting time for us all here at Synchronica and for our customers around the globe. We look forward with increased confidence from this inflection point.”
Posted to the site on 18th August 2008

BYD using VIA Telecom chipsets in CDMA handsets for Nokia, says paper

Newswatch | Aug 18, 12:05

China-based handset maker BYD Electronics began to ship CDMA handsets, made using chipsets from VIA Telecom, to Nokia in the middle of this year, making VIA Telecom a member company of the supply chain of the world's largest branded handset vendor, according to a Chinese-language Commercial Times report. Read more

Analog TV shutdown kills free cell-phone TV

Aug 17, 2008 13:35 EST
Picture whipping out your cell phone and catching up with "Lost" or "Jeopardy," or watching the local 11 o'clock news, all for free.
You can do this with an imported Chinese phone, but you can't with any phone sold in the U.S. — at least not without monthly charges.
This is one of the reasons the United States is behind several other countries when it comes to making television an attractive option for cell phones. Carrier business models are partly at fault, but choices about TV technology made long ago are largely to blame.
Most phones sold in Japan can tune in to free TV broadcasts, and there are tens of millions of viewers. Cell phones that can tune in to free broadcasts are also available in South Korea, Germany and China.
But only 3 percent of Americans regularly watched video on their cell phones late last year, according to a survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. That figure includes people who watched short, downloaded clips rather than broadcast TV.
For starters, you can blame the impending shutdown of all full-power analog TV broadcasts on Feb. 17, a deadline set by the government. That Chinese handset, made by ZTE Corp., can only tune in to analog transmissions. Because most of them are going away, there's no real point in selling phones like that in the United States.
China is keeping its analog broadcasts until 2015, six years longer than the U.S., so the phones are viable there. Ironically, the TV reception chip inside comes from a U.S. company, Telegent Systems Inc., based in Sunnyvale, Calif.
The analog U.S. broadcasts are being replaced by digital broadcasts, but there are no phones anywhere that can tune in to those.
When the U.S. digital TV standard was laid down in the early '90s by the Advanced Television Systems Committee, it was optimized for high-definition signals to stationary antennas, according to Mark Richter, president of the industry group.
At the time, cell phones had screens that could display eight digits and nothing else, so little thought was given making the broadcasts work with mobile gadgets.
The Europeans created their digital television standard later and made it a bit more amenable to mobile reception, Richter said. Thus, there are now phones sold in Germany that can receive local digital broadcasts intended for stationary TVs.
Weijie Yun, Telegent's chief executive, said it's theoretically possible to receive U.S. digital terrestrial broadcasts on a phone, but engineers have yet to overcome key technical challenges. For now, Telegent's chips can receive analog broadcasts in most countries of the world, and digital broadcasts in Europe and a few countries outside it.
Because U.S. phones can't receive regular broadcast TV, carriers have had to look to other solutions. Cell-phone technology company Qualcomm Inc. has created a network that broadcasts signals designed for cell phones. AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless sell some handsets that can tune in to these broadcasts.
Sprint Nextel Corp. has contracted with another company, MobiTV Inc., which streams lo-fi streaming video over the phones' broadband connections. The fourth national carrier, T-Mobile USA, doesn't have a TV service.
The common denominator for the existing services is that they cost money, limiting their adoption. AT&T and Verizon Wireless charge $15 per month for 10 channels. Sprint bundles MobiTV with some high-end plans and charges $9.99 per month as standalone service.
In-Stat analyst Michelle Abraham estimates that Qualcomm's MediaFLO has 100,000 subscribers. MobiTV has done better, with about 4 million subscribers.
Research director John Barrett at analysis firm Parks Associates points to the fees as a problem, and recommends that operators provide free content.
"A free taste would go a long way in making the consumer case for mobile TV," he wrote in a recent report. "Mobile TV services have taken off in Japan and South Korea, where service is offered free of charge. In Italy, where additional fees have been the norm, usage has been limited."
This month, Toshiba Corp. announced it would end a pay-TV system for handsets because of the popularity of free TV broadcasts.
"That's one of the key barriers," Telegent's Yun said. "Once you start charging consumers, they start getting turned off."
U.S. TV broadcasters are quite eager to provide free broadcasts to cell phones, just as they do to TVs with "rabbit-ear" antennas. They've formed the Open Mobile Video Coalition, which estimates that advertising-financed TV for cell phones could be a $2 billion market.
They want to reach cell phones through another wireless standard the ATSC is creating. It will use regular TV frequencies to reach mobile gadgets, meaning TV stations will be able to broadcast from existing towers.
The goal is to complete the new standard, called ATSC-M/H, by the first quarter of next year, Richter said. That could mean broadcasts will be operational before the end of next year.
It's not completely clear that the technology would be used for free TV — the possibility to charge viewers monthly fees will be built in — but it would be natural for broadcasters to simulcast their regular advertising-financed programming on the mobile channel.
The big question then, Abraham said, is whether broadcasters will be able to persuade carriers to sell TV-capable phones.
AT&T spokesman Michael Coe said it was too early speculate.
"If the answer ends up being 'yes,'" Abraham said, "then that opens up a very large market."

T-Mobile to Offer 1st Android

August 15, 2008
If all goes according to plan, T-Mobile USA will be the first carrier to offer a mobile phone based on Google's Android software. The phone could hit the operator’s store shelves as early as October but definitely before Christmas, according to the New York Times.
The high-end phone, which will be made by smartphone maker HTC, is expected to challenge Apple's iPhone as well as other high-end smartphones.
In a YouTube video, the device, identified as the HTC Dream, appears to offer the same large touchscreen as the iPhone. However, the video also shows the screen slides out to reveal a 5-row keyboard.
Last November, Google introduced its Android software system for designing mobile phone devices.

China TD-SCDMA subscriber volumes falling short of expectations

Aug 14, 11:52

The number of TD-SCDMA subscribers in China is expected to reach 2.31 million by the end of 2008, falling substantially short of the optimistic projection of 20-50 million subscribers by market sources in China, according to the latest estimation by China-based market research firm CCID Consulting.

China handset production to top 605 million units in 2008, says CCID

Aug 14, 11:29

The production volumes of handsets in China are expected to top 605 million units in 2008 compared to the 550 million units produced in 2007, according to data released from China-based CCID Consulting

Smartphone sales in China up 32% on year in 1H 2008, says CCID

Aug 13, 11:32

Unit sales of smartphones in the China market grew 32% on year to 15 million units in the first half of 2008, according to data released from China-based CCID Consulting

China handset makers eye CDMA market potential

8 August 2008
China-based Shanghai Huaqin Telecom Technology recently signed a CDMA 2000 subscriber unit license agreement with Qualcomm, making the 2G handset maker the latest company to jump on the CDMA 2000 handset bandwagon.
The license deal came after a number of China-based handset makers, including BYD Electronics, TechFaith Wireless and Teleepoch, also signed a similar license agreement with Qualcomm within less than a year.
The recent reorganization of telecom companies in China and the potential for 3G business helped push China handset makers to venture into the development of 3G CDMA 2000 products, according to sources from Taiwan's handset market.
China Telecom, which is currently consolidating the CDMA networks and equipment previously owned by China Unicom, has projected the number of CDMA subscribers in China is to double to 100 million units within three years, the sources pointed out.
The market potential for CDMA handsets in China has encouraged more handset makers to join the club, indicated the sources.
In addition to the domestic market, China handset makers also aim to push sales of CDMA handsets in emerging markets, including the Middle East, Africa and India, the sources added.

MediaTek sales up 26% in July

7 August 2008
MediaTek has announced that its consolidated net sales for July 2008 totaled NT$8.59 billion, up 26% from the previous month and up 24% from July 2007.
The company's consolidated sales are up 25% through July of this year, compared with the same period in 2007.

HTC revenues up over 26% on year in July

7 August 2008]
High Tech Computer (HTC) posted revenues of NT$11.44 billion (US$372.64 million) in July, down 3.4% on month but up 26.4% on year, according to a company filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE).
For the first seven months of this year, revenues topped NT$78.76 billion, up 32.4% from the same period of last year, the data showed.
Based on HTC's own projection of a 10% sequential growth of its quarterly revenues, the company's revenues are expected to reach NT$38 billion in the third quarter of this year, according to a Chinese-language Commercial Times report.

Foxconn unveils ambitious domestic investment package for Taiwan

7 August 2008
The Foxconn Group (Hon Hai Precision Industry), on August 6, unveiled a package of investment plans to be made in Taiwan.
The investment package was presented by Foxconn chairman Terry Guo to Premier Chao-shiuan Liu at the company's headquarters and include: the establishment of an Asia Pacific logistics and transshipment center in Kaohsiung Harbor, southern Taiwan; investment in a few target industries creating 30,000 jobs; and development of a new residential community characterized by digitization and environmental protection to house a population of 240,000, most of which will be Foxconn employees.

China Unicom to Stop CDMA/GSM Dual-mode Mobile Phone R&D

SHENZHEN, Aug 07, 2008 (SinoCast via COMTEX) -- CHU | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- China Unicom lately said in a statement that it had clinched a deal with China Telecom to stop developing CDMA/GSM dual-mode cell phones.

Industry experts say that such move means China Unicom will stop operation of CDMA/GSM dual-mode telecom service and the dual-mode cell phone makers from now on will have to turn their heads to China Telecom.

Looking back to 2005, China Unicom was lack of CMDA terminals even four years after it kicked off its CDMA network.

By the end of that year, China Unicom came up with CDMA/GSM dual-mode high-end cell phones by making cooperation with a host of cell phone makers.

The CDMA/GSM dual-mode cell phone market saw a fever pitch in 2007 as an increasing number of cell phone makers flocked into the sector with their products, they included ZTE, Hisense, Konka, Amoi, Motorola, LG, Samsung, and so on.

Sharp eyes China for mobile phone expansion

TOKYO, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Sharp Corp (6753.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) aims to sell as many cellphone handsets in China, a market the Japanese company entered in June, in two years as it does in Japan, President Mikio Katayama told reporters on Wednesday.

Sharp sold 13 million mobile phones in Japan in the year ended March 2008.

The consumer electronics maker plans to expand its mobile phone lineup in China by launching lower-priced phones on top of existing high-end models, Katayama said.

Mobile phone demand in Japan slowed in the latest quarter as wireless operators such as NTT DoCoMo Inc (9437.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) cut sales incentives paid to retailers to keep handset prices low, forcing cellphone makers to look overseas for growth.

Katayama also said Sharp aims to boost annual sales of its Blu-ray high-definition DVD-related products, such as Blu-ray recorders, players and components, to 500 billion yen ($4.6 billion) by 2012, up from an estimated 100 billion yen this year.

Shares in Sharp, the world's third-largest liquid crystal display TV maker behind Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Sony Corp (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), closed up 5.1 percent at 1,458 yen ahead of Katayama's comments, outperforming the Tokyo stock market's electrical machinery index , which gained 4.1 percent. (Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Rodney Joyce and David Holmes)