SonyEricsson has second-largest market share in RI

Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

SonyEricsson claimed it holds the second largest mobile phone market share in Indonesia this year, after Finland-based Nokia.

"We have been the second since early this year and by the end of this year, we believe we will stay in this position," said country manager Alino Sugianto after the launch of new SonyEricsson mobile phone models on Monday. However, he acknowledged that there was no official information available here on mobile phone market shares.

Worldwide, SonyEricsson is the fifth largest mobile phone producer.

Alino also said the mobile phone market in Indonesia was still promising and held out the prospect of huge opportunities for producers amid a low market penetration of around 8 percent.

"The new comer, CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) players, will also make the market brighter," he said, referring to two new CDMA operators, TelkomFlexi and Esia.

Given this background, Alino believed the company's sales this year would grow by 50 percent as compared to 2002. However, he refused to put his finger on a precise figure.

This year, the company launched 10 different models of mobile phone, from low-end phones to smart phones targeting the low- budget market and the high-end market respectively.

"Although the smart phones category still holds a small percentage of market share, the low-end types account for 50 percent of the company's sales," marketing communications manager Meiske Surjadinata, told The Jakarta Post.

Smart phones here refers to phones that combine a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) and mobile phone. Sony Ericsson has so far launched two types, the P 800 and P 900.

On Monday, the company launched four new types of mobile phone, the P 900, Z 600, Z 200 and T230. With retail prices varying from Rp 7.4 million (US$823.14) at the top end to Rp 1.5 million at the other end, these new products are expected to reach a wide range of markets as well as increase the company's market share.

The Z 600 and Z 200 are Sony Ericsson's first clamshell-type phones, following other producers who have already been producing this type, such as Motorola and Samsung.

Sony Ericsson believes the clamshell-type phones will have a bright future in the mobile phone market here, as well as in other Asian countries, such as China and Taiwan.

London-based SonyEricsson is a 50:50 joint venture between Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson and Sony Corporation. They merged in October 2001.