Beijing, July 22: Nokia, the world's biggest maker of mobile phones, said it would overtake Motorola Inc to become the leader in China's handset market in the second half of 2003. Dozens of foreign and domestic suppliers are competing to dominate China, the largest mobile market by users, and the world's top two producers have been locked in a tight race to be number one.
He said the two firms currently claim roughly equal percentages of the China market, but he declined to give specific figures.
Finland-based Nokia, which derived about 10 percent of its total revenue of from China last year, plans to roll out some 15 new handset models this year in an effort to entice price and style-conscious Chinese customers and win market share, he said.
"Sales this year have been pretty good. There was obviously a period of SARS which affected retail sales, but otherwise it's been a fairly good year," Giles said at Nokia's downtown Beijing office late on Monday.
The flu-like Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which broke out in southern China last November, shuttered shops and cleared city streets for several weeks in the first half of this year. The virus killed more than 340 people and infected more than 5,000 in the country.
Giles said Nokia was poised to reap the rewards of newer models, a wider distribution network and more savvy marketing campaigns. Bureau Report