• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Nokia Hopes for Growth in Market Share of Asia's Digital Image Conferencing

Posted on: Monday, 22 March 2004, 06:00 CST

Mar. 22--Nokia is undertaking a major drive this year to promote the application of digital imaging conference and enterprise solutions among Asia's trendy and tech-savvy consumers.

The world's dominant phone maker expects to see at least 10 percent growth in sales performance this year in line with expected demand globally, and hopes to have a 40 percent market share by year-end, according to Urpo Karjalainen, senior vice-president for customer and market operations in Asia-Pacific.

Nokia reported a profit equivalent to 84.15 billion baht for 2003, an increase of 4 percent from the year before. Its handset sales volume grew by 18 percent to 179.3 million units, representing a 38 percent share of global sales of 471 million units last year.

The company declined to give revenue figures, but said approximately 22 percent of total revenue came from Asia Pacific.

"We expect the multimedia and enterprise solution business units will be the keys for Nokia this year to drive sales growth, in particular from booming emerging markets such as India, China and Indonesia," said Mr Karjalainen.

Early this year, Nokia announced a global restructuring, downsizing its eight business units to three: mobile voices, multimedia applications and enterprise solutions.

"We are serious about developing products for the infant enterprise market," Mr Karjalainen said, adding that video would be integrated into many new models, just as cameras are becoming basic applications on handsets today.

The company staged a presentation of some of its new products recently in Hong Kong at the same time as the annual Nokia Passion for Communications event at CeBIT, the world's largest consumer electronics and IT fair, in Hanover, Germany.

Its newest handset, the 7610, features a camera with record-high (for a phone) resolution of one megapixel. The model uses multimedia card technology capable of capturing, printing, storing and sending still images and videos. It is slated to go on sale worldwide in the second quarter, priced in the range of more upscale high-speed data phones.

Nokia has also introduced a business phone, the Communicator 9500, a significant upgrade of a similar model that saw limited demand about four years ago. The new model has enterprise-class features that give travelling employees access to corporate e-mail and messaging, as well as information about their companies' products and customers.

Mr Karjalainen said the number of global mobile phone users was expected to top two billion in 2008, compared with 1.3 billion currently. The figure is expected to reach four billion by 2015.

Shaun Colligan, managing director of Nokia (Thailand), said he expected overall demand for new handsets in Thailand this year would be six million to 10 million units, with half of all sales in the replacement market.

He declined to give a sales target but said Nokia expected to outpace last year's growth and maintain its top ranking locally. Revenue is also expected to be in line with global performance.

Mr Colligan said Nokia Thailand posted a better-than-expected sales performance in the first two months of this year, thanks to a strategic focus on offering a wide range of handset models from the high-end to new-user markets.

Nokia plans to introduce four to five new models each quarter this year.

Despite pressure from South Korean rivals Samsung and LG and Chinese vendors, which have become more aggressive in the global market including Thailand, Mr Colligan said Nokia was confident it would retain its leadership, given to its strong business partnerships and diverse product line.

-----

To see more of the Bangkok Post, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.bangkokpost.com

(c) 2004, Bangkok Post, Thailand. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

NOK,

More News in this Category