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Phone.com Signs Pact With Sunday
By Biddy Chan at Bloomberg News
08 October 1999
Phone.com Inc., a U.S. maker of software that connects mobile phones to the Internet, signed an agreement to provide software to customers of Sunday, one of Hong Kong's smaller mobile service providers.
Sunday said it plans to spend HK$100 million ($13 million) in the next 18 months on Phone.com's software and related content and applications for its 300,000 subscribers.
Phone.com plans to set up its regional headquarters in Hong Kong. The company recently signed a similar pact with U.S.-based Motorola Inc., the world's top mobile phone manufacturer.
"After an extensive search in Greater China and Southeast Asia, we have found Sunday the ideal partner, based on its proven track record of innovation and creativity," said Tony Mianzadeh, Phone.com's vice president for sales and business development for Asia Pacific and Latin America.
Sunday is owned 60% held by Distacom Hong Kong Ltd.; 15% by Hong Kong-listed Lai Sun Development Co., 15% by Hong Kong-listed USI Holdings Ltd.; 5% by Hong Kong Parkview Group Ltd.; and 5% by China Travel Service (Holdings) Hong Kong Ltd.
Phone.com has licensed its software to 25 phone manufacturers worldwide, covering 90% of the phones currently produced, and to a third of the world's mobile telecom service providers, covering about 138 million subscribers, Chairman and Chief Executive Alain Rossmann said in August.
To further boost growth in revenue - which rose more than sixfold to $13.4 million in the fiscal year ended June 30 -- Phone.com is focusing on Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong, where cellular phone use is increasing rapidly.
Shares of Redwood, California-based Phone.com have surged 370% since an initial stock sale in June at $16. The stock rose 9.2% to close at $190 yesterday in New York.
Lai Sun shares fell 2% today to 48.5 HK cents. Its shares have fallen 34% this year, compared with a 28 percent gain in the Hang Seng All Ordinaries Index.
Copyright 1999, Bloomberg L.P. All Rights Reserved.
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