Nokia head sees 1 bln mobile users by 2002
<<Through various new technologies, Ollila said it should take no more than two more years before widespread mobile Internet takes hold, noting that the United States is further ahead in that regard than Europe. >>
--From AOL.-- Cooters
NAZARETH, Israel, June 27 (Reuters) - Mobile phone subscriptions will double to one billion in the next two years, far outpacing Internet users, the chairman and chief executive officer of cellular phone giant Nokia Corp said.
``At the end of 2002 the one-billion mark will be broken'' for mobile phone subscriptions, Jorma Ollila said at a two-day economic conference in Nazareth due to end on Tuesday.
Ollila said the two hottest technology trends -- the Internet and cellular phones -- will continue to converge, providing Nokia with a huge business boost for the foreseeable future.
``This gives us a kick for the next five years,'' Ollila said. ``The desktop PC will survive, but just survive because the Internet will be mobile.
Mobile phone users currently total 540 million, up from 500 million at the end of 1999, with subscribers to Internet service providers expected to hit 600 million by 2004, Ollila said.
``More handsets will be connected to the Internet than PCs by the end of 2003,'' he said.
Ollila said most people want instant access to information, but will spend less time near a personal computer and more time with mobile phones, notebook computers and other hand-held devices.
Through various new technologies, Ollila said it should take no more than two more years before widespread mobile Internet takes hold, noting that the United States is further ahead in that regard than Europe.
He stressed, though, that Nokia has no plans to enter the mobile services sector, leaving that to third parties.
Nokia has grown from a small domestic company with revenues of less than $1 billion in 1980 to a global one with $20 billion in sales in 1999, while contributing one percentage point to Finland's gross domestic product growth of 3.5 percent last year.
The one problem with the company's growth is that Nokia might not be as quick as it used to in responding to the rapid changes in the industry, Ollila said.
He pointed to having taken a back-seat in the CDMA -- code division multiple access -- wireless technology.
``We should have done that sooner,'' Ollila said. ``We are now in a catch-up game -- which we will win.''
12:13 06-27-00 |
