Dopod China reportedly to introduce low cost CDMA handsets in China

18 Dec, 2007

Dopod China, which has a strong connection with High Tech Computer (HTC), will soon begin to introduce low cost CDMA handsets in China in cooperation with China-based telecom service provider China Unicom, according to market sources and media reports in China.
Dopod will market its CDMA handsets under a new brand name, Vivie, which will be built by a China-based contract maker, using CDMA chipsets from VIA Telecom, an affiliate of VIA Technologies, said the sources, noting that the CDMA handset will not be powered by Windows Mobile OS (operating system).
Previously, Dopod focused on marketing Windows Mobile-based PDA handsets and smartphones manufactured by HTC, using chipset solutions mostly from Qualcomm.
The introduction of VIA Telecom-based CDMA handsets signals a further integration of the VIA Technologies Group, the sources indicated.
In other news, market sources estimated that the size of the CDMA handset market in China is expected to reach 10 million units in 2007, with leading vendors including Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, Motorola, Huawei Technologies and ZTE.

Taiwan market: HTC and Dopod see highest handset market share in October

21 Nov, 2007

The combined market share of High Tech Computer (HTC) and its subsidiary Dopod International in Taiwan's handset market hit a record high in October, standing at 6%, according to preliminary data compiled by retail channels in Taiwan.
Nokia saw its share in Taiwan decline slightly in October, but the company still was ranked as the number one vendor with a comfortable market share of over 32%, the data showed.
Motorola managed to close its gap with Samsung Electronics in unit sales and kept its number four ranking in October. The US-based vendor, however, re-captured third place from Samsung in terms of sales value with a 9.9% share.
HTC alone was ranked the 10th largest vendor with a market share close to 4% in October, according to the channels.

Source: Preliminary data from Taiwan retail channels as quoted by the Commercial Times,

China’s smartphone sales continue to rise

20 Nov, 2007 by CommsDay
China saw a 5.2 per cent increase in smartphone sales, reaching sales volume of 6.388 million sets in Q3 and gaining US$2.23 billion sales revenue, increasing 11.3 per cent on a month-on-month basis, said CCID Consulting.
The firm put down the highs in sales volume to students buying phones during the summer vacation and the promotions during the Chinese national holiday.
CCID also reported that Symbian OS retained its lead over other operating systems, holding nearly 70 per cent market share with sales volume reaching 4.416 million handsets, due to Nokia’s ongoing popularity in China.
Windows Mobile posted 52 per cent growth rate attributed in part to the popularity of Windows Mobile-based phones from Motorola, Samsung, Lenovo and Dopod, though still representing just over 5 per cent of the market.
Conversely, although Linux still held more than 25 per cent of the market, sales volume dropped partly due to the declining sales of Motorola’s Linux-based models, which accounted for 70 per cet of the Linux-based smartphone market, the market analyst said.
The market share for Palm operating system phones is down 52.6 per cent. The reason is that the manufacturers adopting the Palm operating system are not the mainstream of the market, CCID reported.
CCID also added that market share of phones with large screens continually increase. However, while smartphones with a screen size larger than two inches make up more than 90 per cent of the market, their share is actually decreasing. Demand for screen sizes larger than 2.4 inches has decreased nearly 13 per cent, which the firm has speculated on account of customers wanting smaller, lighter phones.
Looking forward, CCID Consulting forecasts that China's smart phone market will keep increasing in 2007Q4 and the sales volume will increase five per cent while the sales revenue will increase eight per cent.
Promotional campaigns are also expected to be the key to a manufacturer’s success in the smart phone market in 2007Q3.