Philips sets modest target for phones

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Dutch firm Philips Consumer Electronics, which is better known here for its lamp and electronic products, launched on Thursday its latest cell phone products as it seeks to control three percent of the country's cell phone sales this year.

The company projected cell phone sales to reach four million units this year.

Last year, the company sold about 120,000 units, compared with the country's total sales of between 2.5 and 3 million units, Ina R. Hutasoit, general manager of Philips Consumer Communication for Indonesia told a press conference.

Philips launched two new products, namely Fisio 820 and Fisio 620, which respectively sells for Rp 3.8 million (about US$408) and Rp 1.8 million.

Alan Sparks, senior vice president of Philips Consumer Communications for the Asia Pacific region, said both products were equipped with the latest cellular technology and attractive features. The Fisio 820 is a Bluetooth-enabled GPRS (class 10) mobile phone with colored screens, while Fisio 620 has changeable front and back covers.

Fisio 820 has a talk time of five and a half hours and standby time of up to 12 days using the standard 620 mAh Li-ion battery, while Fisio 620 has a talk time of four hours and standby time of 330 hours or almost 14 days.

Ina said Philips targets middle and upper class customers and will focus on eight big cities across the country, that is Medan, Pekanbaru, Jakarta, Semarang, Bandung, Surabaya, Ujung Pandang and Balikpapan.