An executive from local mobile-phone manufacturer DBTEL Inc (
"In 2003, DBTEL aims to make significant progress in the Taiwan and European market by offering premium products to users who regard handsets as luxury collectibles," said Simone Liu (
The company is on the verge of launching seven new diamond-studded handset models called the "DBTEL collection," each priced above NT$30,000, she said.
"Since handsets have become a necessity, a mobile phone has become just like a wallet or purse that can be used to represent a person's social status," Liu said.
Formerly known as Dialer and Business Electronics Co, the company started out producing mobile phones for Motorola as well as cordless phones for AT&T and Radio Shack in the US.
After shipping its first mobile phones in 1998, DBTEL officially launched DBTEL-brand handsets in China and Taiwan in November 2001.
The company reported sales of NT$8.15 billion this year, or nearly 60 percent increase from 2001, of which about NT$7 billion sales came from DBTEL brand products.
DBTEL generated more than 60 percent of its revenue from handsets sold in China last year.
"This year, however, we decided to focus more on the Taiwan and Europe markets," Liu said.
DBTEL plans to continue marketing entry-level products priced below NT$5,000 in China, while promoting luxury items in Taiwan and Europe, where mobile-phone markets are more mature, she said.
DBTEL plans to open its first retail outlet in Taipei on Friday.
"In an effort to stimulate brand recognition, our first step is to set up flagship stores in big cities," Liu said.
DBTEL wants to open outlets in Shanghai, Hong Kong, London and Paris within the next two years, she said.
Analysts were skeptical about the moves, saying that earnings would probably be limited.
"In terms of branding, the investment [in setting up stores] might be rewarding, while I don't expect the company's sales to make a significant jump because of the move," said Ann Liang (
DBTEL brand recognition in the European market is virtually non-existent, she said, adding that it will be a challenge to compete with established brands such as Nokia and Motorola.
Another analyst also poured cold water on DBTEL's branding plan.
"They have to go for branding rather than original equipment manufacturing because DBTEL doesn't receive many orders from overseas companies," said Yen Ming-chi (
Ever since DBTEL ruined its relationship with former partner Motorola early last year, foreign companies have chosen not to outsource handset manufacturing from DBTEL.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained