Nokia beefs up CDMA push in India, China
By Zi Mu (China Business Weekly)
Updated: 2004-05-25 14:57

Finnish cellphone giant Nokia is counting on the booming Asia-Pacific markets, especially China and India, to boost its share of the global CDMA mobile phone market.

"Nokia views Asia-Pacific as an important region for its CDMA operations," said Soren Peterson, senior vice-president and general manager of Nokia's CDMA mobile phone business.

"In 2004, the CDMA market continues to beat overall market growth rates."

GSM, or global system for mobile communications, is the world's dominant wireless standard. CDMA, or code division multiple access, is the second most popular.

Peterson predicted global CDMA cellphone shipments will increase more than 20 per cent year-on-year in 2004.

The solid growth will be fuelled by penetration increases in emerging markets such as China, India and Brazil, and by increasing renewal rates in developed markets, he said.

Asia-Pacific accounts for 41 per cent of the global CDMA market, in terms of subscriber numbers.

"Six of the top 10 global CDMA operators are from the Asia-Pacific," Peterson said.

China's CDMA operator, China Unicom, accounts for about 10 per cent of the global CDMA subscription base, he added.

By May 5, Unicom had 22.56 million CDMA subscribers.

Nokia last month launched a new CDMA research and development (R&D) centre in India. The facility will focus on providing software support and technical expertise in CDMA technology.

Before, the firm had two R&D centres in India, which focused on developing next-generation mobile technologies and communications solutions.

This year, Nokia will expand its CDMA testing, development and manufacturing facilities in China, Peterson said.

The firm will also enhance efforts to build distribution channels in the country, he added.

The world's No 1 cellphone maker had been shunned from China's nascent CDMA market before last June, when Nokia secured approval from the Chinese Government to make and sell CDMA phones in the country.

Due, in large part, to the lack of a CDMA licence, Nokia for years has lagged -- in terms of market share --Motorola in China.

Globally, Nokia commands close to 40 per cent of the cellphone market.

Nokia estimated it almost doubled its global CDMA cellphone share from 8 per cent in year-end 2002 to 14-15 per cent at the end of last year.

The firm's ranking in the CDMA cellphone market also jumped to No 3 at the end of 2003, from No 4 in 2002.

Nokia said its strategic goal is to grab 25 per cent share of the global CDMA market and become the top CDMA player.

China and India are expected to be two of the major drivers that boost Nokia's market share.

Nokia last month launched two new CDMA2000 1x mobile phone models, one entry-level and the other targetting mobile professionals, in the Asia-Pacific region.

The firm also, for the first time, showcased three other CDMA2000 1x models, including a fold-away design, which are expected to be commercially available before year's end.

Last year, Nokia launched 13 CDMA cellphone models.

Nokia introduced two CDMA models in China last year, in September and December.

Those models have been selling "quite well," Colin Giles, senior vice-president in charge of Nokia's customer and marketing operations in greater China, has said.

Two data tracking firms have ranked Nokia as No 1 in both the GSM and CDMA handset markets, in terms of retail sales, he noted.

He did not elaborate.

"We are now seeing positive results of the investment we have made in CDMA technology. We are confident we will continue to experience good growth in this business, and are particularly encouraged by the healthy and rapid growth in Asia-Pacific, which is an important region for us," Peterson said.

"We will continue to build and broaden our product portfolio to cater to all major consumer segments, as well as work closely with our customers and partners globally, particularly in Asia-Pacific, to drive the adoption of open standards and solutions to bring about greater industry growth and benefits to end users."

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