Nokia expects bullish market in 1999

JAKARTA (JP): Finland-based mobile phone producer Nokia is bullish about the Indonesian cellular market's prospects next year because it expects the country's economy to start recovering.

The general manager of Nokia Mobile Phones Indonesia, Alexander Lambeek, said on Thursday that he was optimistic that the economic recovery would stimulate the cellular telephone market, which had been severely hurt by the country's worst ever economic crisis.

Lambeek said that the expected economic recovery would certainly benefit Nokia, which he claimed was the market leader in the country's mobile telephone market,

"1998 was a record year for our company as we, for the first time, led the world's mobile phone industry as well as Indonesia's. We believe that 1999 will be another record year for us," he told a media gathering.

"We feel optimistic about expanding our customer base next year and to continue leading the domestic market," Lambeek added.

But he refused to reveal the company's sales figures or revenue for this year or the company's projections for next year.

Lambeek said that the growth of cellular phone users in Indonesia before the country was hit by the crisis in early July, last year, exceeded the growth in other countries in the region.

"With such a huge potential, no international cellular phone company can ignore the Indonesian market."

State telecommunications firm PT Telkom said that the number of cellular users in Indonesia dropped 26.8 percent to 762,602 as of September this year from around one million in September last year, due to the sharp increase in the prices of cellular phones and the rising usage rates following the rupiah's sharp fall against the U.S dollar.

Lambeek said that despite the current economic problems, Nokia remained committed to Indonesia and its long-term business goals.

"Although the country is having an economic slowdown, we remain committed to providing the best products and services to local consumers," he said.

"Early this year, we realized that this year would be a tough year, but we consider that we have a large number of customers and employees in the country, so we will have to stay here to serve and help them. In fact, this year has become a wonderful year."

Lambeek said the company would continue to launch its new products and to open more service centers next year.

"We plan to launch our new product, the Nokia 9110 early next year," he said. (gis)