Asian phone makers challenging Nokia

Asian phone makers challenging Nokia

Agence France-Presse, Singapore

Asia's mobile phone makers are mounting an aggressive campaign to build their presence in the region but challenging the dominance of heavyweight Nokia will be tough, analysts said.

Nokia's exact market share in the region is not available but figures from technology research house International Data Corp. (IDC) show the Finnish giant far outpaces its Asian rivals on the world market.

In the quarter to June, Nokia maintained its number one position in the global handset market with almost 41 million units sold, or 34.6 percent of total shipments, IDC said.

Its nearest rival, U.S.-based Motorola, was a distant second with 13.4 percent or 15.8 million units and South Korea's Samsung placed third with 10.1 percent or 12 million units.

"I would say Nokia has got a tremendous amount of brand equity... it's rock solid," said Bryan Ma, IDC's research manager.

Asian mobile phone makers, already major domestic players, are well-placed to make a big push in the region, where the device is increasingly considered a must-have consumer item with high-tech features such as cameras, radios and sharp colour screens the standard.

"There is a fairly dramatic change in the evolution of the handset market," said Manoj Menon, regional director for technology practice at global research house Frost and Sullivan.

"The phone is not just about voice anymore. It's about pictures and consumer applications like camera (functions), ringtones," Menon said.

These industry shifts will boost Asian mobile phone makers' efforts to expand their presence in a Nokia-dominated field as most of them, such as Samsung, are already leaders in consumer electronics, Menon said.

"What the Asian players bring to the market is their expertise in consumer electronics," Menon said.

"They have traditionally enjoyed a good understanding of the consumer psyche and they are bringing it to the handset market and playing it to their advantage."

The much-anticipated migration to third generation (3G) mobile networks, which promise enhanced functions such as video links and fast Internet access, will also give an extra boost to Asian efforts to establish a foothold.

South Korean and Japanese handset makers are world leaders in data applications, a key feature of 3G technology, which gives them a headstart.

Asian consumers are already beginning to embrace mobile phones from South Korea and Japan, widely regarded as the most serious challengers to Nokia.

Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel), the island's leading mobile phone service provider, said it has detected a new preference for Asian mobile phone brands at its retail outlets, but declined to give figures.

"We see an increasingly larger proportion of customers buying handsets from the Asian suppliers," said Hui Weng Cheong, SingTel's vice president for consumer products.

"I think the Asian suppliers are pretty advanced in the display technology... very high definition, high colour display screens as well as the ergonomics of the user interface and the design."

Nokia executives declined to comment on the Asian challenge but maintained confidence in its strong leading position.

In new growth markets like India and Indonesia where mobile penetration rates are still low, great potential exists for new subscribers, said Robert Andersson, Nokia's regional senior vice president for mobile phones. Tech-savvy mature markets such as Singapore and Hong Kong also offer value-led growth opportunities for the Finnish telecom giant.

"For Nokia, we believe there are opportunities for growth in the mobile phone market and the company expects to see total market volumes grow by about 10 percent versus 405 million in 2002," he told AFP.

"Nokia's aim is to be the leader in mobility for the long term. Nokia will grow in both volume and value in the Asia Pacific region."