Telecom firms set to duel in Asia
Telecom firms set to duel in Asia
Bernice Han, Agence France-Presse, Singapore
The stage is set for an intense battle to capture the hearts and hands of mobile phone users in Asia as the world's top manufacturers roll out a new range of color-screen models with all the bells and whistles imaginable.
Asia is poised to be a key testing ground for the telecom giants in their push to promote Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) given its insatiable appetite for the latest in technology, experts told AFP at the CommunicAsia 2002 trade fair.
"I think Asia will drive faster (towards MMS) than Europe," said Arie Kuijt, executive vice president of European information and communications company CMG Wireless Data Solutions.
Other experts also agreed mobile phone makers would see the region as the ideal playground to test market acceptance of the MMS-enabled handsets as Asian subscribers are already among the most technology-savvy anywhere.
In Singapore, where the mobile phone penetration rate is around 73 percent out of a population of just under four million, subscribers change their handsets for the latest model every nine months on average.
"They will view Asia, particularly Hong Kong, the Philippines and Singapore as a showcase for the MMS development," said Neil Montefiore, chief executive of Singapore's second biggest telecom operator MobileOne Asia Pte. Ltd.
"It is quite likely the adoption rate here will be faster than Europe so they will want to point to somewhere successful just as people have pointed to Japan with the i-Mode," he said, referring to the Japanese service allowing Internet access via mobile phones.
Unlike Short Messaging Service (SMS) which is highly popular despite being restricted to short text clips, MMS allows color pictures, animation, recorded sound and even video to be transmitted on existing wireless systems.
A number of new handset models showcased at CommunicAsia featured sharp and bright color screens, as well as complicated ringing tones to accompany the visual effects.
Leading handset makers Nokia and Sony Ericsson made clear Asia, which is still growing as sales in mature markets like North America and Europe taper off, would play a huge role in their plans to launch MMS-enabled mobile phones.
Rival manufacturers from South Korea, Japan, the United States and Europe are also riding on the multimedia bandwagon.
Sony Ericsson, formed last year between Swedish telecom powerhouse Ericsson and Japan's electronics giant Sony Corp., sees vast opportunities despite varying degrees of market maturity in the region.
"This diverse development represents interesting opportunities for (the) company," said Katsumi Ihara, president of Sony Ericsson.
Based on research carried out by the company, corporate vice president for marketing Philip Vanhoutte said "the age barrier is indifferent," and that "three out of four (subscribers) across the globe" would use MMS features.
The region's mobile subscriber base now numbers 310 million, about a third of the 930 million users globally, industry players said.
Sony Ericsson's Ihara said the penetration rate in the region stood at just seven percent, which meant there was still plenty of room for more growth, a view shared by close rival Nokia.
The Finnish company's president for mobile phones Matti Alahuhta said the region was expected to continue to show "good growth this year in terms of handset volumes."
"Going forward, we continue to see a promising trend in the region as Asians are among the largest consumers of mobile phones and services in the world," Alahuhta said.
The region accounted for 26 percent of Nokia's total revenues of 31.2 billion euros (US$29 billion) in 2001, up from 23 percent in the previous year and the growth trend is set to continue, he said.