Finland-based manufacturer Nokia will next year provide dual-band handsets for the Chinese market after signing a deal with China Mobile.
The handsets will be compatible with both the GSM standard and the homegrown TD-SCDMA 3G standard, established by the Chinese government as a rival to international 3G standards CDMA-2000 and WCDMA. Currently, the only foreign companies to supply TD-SCDMA handsets in China are LG Electronics and Samsung.
China Mobile chairman Wang Jianzhou says the company is also in talks with Motorola and Sony Ericsson to supply dual-band handsets.
Mobile phone shipments in China grew by 76.2% in 2007, according to research company iSupply. Around 229m handsets were shipped last year, from 130m in 2006.
China Mobile is the world's largest mobile phone operator ranked by number of subscribers, with more than 200m customers. The firm is now keen to invest overseas and is currently looking at telecom assets in emerging markets, particularly in Asia.
According to Dow Jones, China Mobile also plans to invest USD800m in Pakistan operator CMPak, which China Mobile acquired last year for USD460m. Wang says the company will use the investment to improve the CMPak network.
Wang also says that China Mobile is still in talks with Apple to launch the iPhone. However, there is still no timetable for the China release, he says.
StrategyEye's related companies: China Mobile, LG Electronics, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, Apple, Inc., SAMSUNG, Nokia
