Nokia Oyj, the world's largest cellphone maker, plans to sell handsets in China based on Qualcomm Inc's technology as it seeks to close a gap with leader Motorola Inc in the world's biggest mobile market.
Finland's Nokia was ranked second in cellphone sales in China last year and the company plans to supply "low-priced" code-division multiple access phones to China United Telecommunications Corp in May at the earliest, said Zhang Changjiang, a specialist at Nokia's product division in Beijing.
The two companies held "initial talks," China United Telecommunications Corp Marketing Director Li Weichong confirmed.
Enlisting Nokia as a supplier of CDMA phones may put further pressure on Samsung Electronics Co, Motorola and other man-ufacturers to drop handset prices, which have already fallen by half.
Nokia at present makes phones in China based only on the global system for mobile communications standard.
"Nokia wants 40 percent of the global handset market," Zhang said.
"How can we achieve that goal without getting into CDMA in China?" Zhang said. He wouldn't say how much the phones will cost.
China United is China's second-largest cellular carrier and operator of the country's only network using the Qualcomm technology.
China United plans to make CDMA service available on prepaid cards from next month in an attempt to recruit low-income earners, who prefer such cards because they don't need to pay monthly subscription fees.
The company is aiming for 13 million new CDMA users this year, making it an attractive customer for Nokia, which sold 11 million phones in China last year.
Prices of CDMA phones in China have on average dropped by half in the past year because Eastern Communications Co, TCL Mobile Communication Co and other local makers increased production.
A Samsung A399 CDMA phone costs 2300 yuan (US$278) in Beijing, down from 4800 yuan a year ago. Still, that's expensive to Unicom's CDMA subscribers, who on average pay US$18 a month, a quarter of what users spend at NTT DoCoMo Inc, the world's second-largest mobile-phone company by sales.
Nokia has about 10 percent of the CDMA phone market worldwide and controls about half of the market for GSM, the standard in Europe and China's dominant standard. China has 216 million cellphone users, barely one out of five people.
Shares of Nokia, which trade in Helsinki, fell 88 cents, or 6 percent, to 13.91 euros yesterday. Shares of China Unicom Ltd, a unit of China United, dropped 2.6 percent to HK$4.725 at 2:39pm in Hong Kong.
Nokia made 32 million phones in China last year, about a third of which were sold in the country, according to Beijing-based Norson Telecom Consulting.
Motorola manufactured 37 million phones in China last year, and sold half of those domestically.
In China, Nokia makes GSM phones in factories in Beijing and Dongguan, a booming industrial city in southern Guangdong province.
The company isn't among 19 manufacturers licensed by China's Ministry of Information Industry to make CDMA handsets.
It must seek regulatory approval, or partner with one of the licensed makers.
Zhang Qi, director of the ministry's products division, which is responsible for approving licenses, said she hasn't heard of any Nokia application.
UNCERTAINTY: Innolux activated a stringent supply chain management mechanism, as it did during the COVID-19 pandemic, to ensure optimal inventory levels for customers Flat-panel display makers AUO Corp (友達) and Innolux Corp (群創) yesterday said that about 12 to 20 percent of their display business is at risk of potential US tariffs and that they would relocate production or shipment destinations to mitigate the levies’ effects. US tariffs would have a direct impact of US$200 million on AUO’s revenue, company chairman Paul Peng (彭雙浪) told reporters on the sidelines of the Touch Taiwan trade show in Taipei yesterday. That would make up about 12 percent of the company’s overall revenue. To cope with the tariff uncertainty, AUO plans to allocate its production to manufacturing facilities in
TAKING STOCK: A Taiwanese cookware firm in Vietnam urged customers to assess inventory or place orders early so shipments can reach the US while tariffs are paused Taiwanese businesses in Vietnam are exploring alternatives after the White House imposed a 46 percent import duty on Vietnamese goods, following US President Donald Trump’s announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on the US’ trading partners. Lo Shih-liang (羅世良), chairman of Brico Industry Co (裕茂工業), a Taiwanese company that manufactures cast iron cookware and stove components in Vietnam, said that more than 40 percent of his business was tied to the US market, describing the constant US policy shifts as an emotional roller coaster. “I work during the day and stay up all night watching the news. I’ve been following US news until 3am
Taiwan will prioritize the development of silicon photonics by taking advantage of its strength in the semiconductor industry to build another shield to protect the local economy, National Development Council (NDC) Minister Paul Liu (劉鏡清) said yesterday. Speaking at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee, Liu said Taiwan already has the artificial intelligence (AI) industry as a shield, after the semiconductor industry, to safeguard the country, and is looking at new unique fields to build more economic shields. While Taiwan will further strengthen its existing shields, over the longer term, the country is determined to focus on such potential segments as
COLLABORATION: Given Taiwan’s key position in global supply chains, the US firm is discussing strategies with local partners and clients to deal with global uncertainties Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) yesterday said it is meeting with local ecosystem partners, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), to discuss strategies, including long-term manufacturing, to navigate uncertainties such as US tariffs, as Taiwan occupies an important position in global supply chains. AMD chief executive officer Lisa Su (蘇姿丰) told reporters that Taiwan is an important part of the chip designer’s ecosystem and she is discussing with partners and customers in Taiwan to forge strong collaborations on different areas during this critical period. AMD has just become the first artificial-intelligence (AI) server chip customer of TSMC to utilize its advanced
RSS