chinadotcom Corporation Partners with Siemens to Deliver WAP Content in China
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Part of chinadotcom's Dual-pronged WAP Strategy of Collaboration
With Mobile Phones Manufacturers and Operators to Capitalize
On Growing Wireless Market
HONG KONG, July 7 /PRNewswire/ -- chinadotcom corporation (NASDAQ:CHINA)
(Website: www.corp.china.com) has entered into an agreement with Siemens
Shanghai Mobile Communication Ltd. to provide Siemens' Wireless Application
Protocol (WAP) phone customers in China with access to chinadotcom's portal
network. Demonstrating its continued commitment to developing the rapidly
growing WAP market in China, chinadotcom will link its portal network to
Siemens mobile handsets through wap.china.com . Similation is now available
on two dedicated websites, wap4U.china.com and wap4U.hongkong.com , for
china.com and hongkong.com users respectively.
Access to chinadotcom's leading portals for mobile users is now possible
anywhere, anytime, via a Siemens' WAP-enabled phone, empowering mobile users
to easily access and interact with chinadotcom's online information and
services. wap.china.com includes information (news, stock quotes, weather,
sports), emergency (car rescue, emergency call), interactive community (email,
chatroom, poll and auction) for China WAP users, and leisure (horoscope, city
guide -- movie, restaurant and bar info, travel package and search) and
interactive community products (email, mobile icq, poll and chatroom) for Hong
Kong WAP users.
The wap.china.com access point has been specifically designed by
chinadotcom corporation's technical team to optimise information displayed on
mobile phones. Beginning mid July, this access point will be linked directly
through Siemens mobile handset models 3518i and 3568i and all other upcoming
models of WAP-enabled phones. The combination of multiple access choice with
the latest technology and applications will reinforce chinadotcom's position
as the fastest-growing amongst China's five leading portals.
"The WAP market has high potential for growth in China, where mobile phone
adoption is accelerating very rapidly. By entering the market early via
agreements with leading mobile phone manufacturers like Siemens, we are well
positioned to be the portal network destination of choice, offering content
and services independent of time and place. chinadotcom has a dual-pronged
strategy by partnering with leading mobile phone manufacturers and operators
to capitalize on the potential of the WAP and the wireless market. The
wireless revolution is well on its way in China and will change the nature of
Internet access. WAP is only the beginning, and chinadotcom intends to be
leading the way and we look forward to announcing more wireless-related
developments in coming weeks", said Peter Yip, Chief Executive Officer of
chinadotcom corporation.
"Siemens has been able to achieve a leadership position in the China
mobile communications market. We are committed to expand and deepen our
penetration into this important market through quality mobile phone products
and value-added services. Convergence of information and communications and
the fusion of Internet and mobility are becoming a new mega trend. Through
partnership with leading content provider chinadotcom, we hope to offer more
value-added services and strengthen the WAP applications of Siemens WAP phones
to benefit our customers," said Mr. Daniel Sham, Vice President of Siemens
Shanghai Mobile Communications.
Analysts and market research firms agree that the mobile phone will be the
most pervasive method of accessing the Internet by as early as 2002. The
global mobile phone penetration is expected to reach 1 billion by Q3 2002 and
1.87 billion by 2004. IDC also predicts that by mid-2001 all mobile phones
shipped globally will be WAP-enabled. The mobile phone will also become the
standard device for consumer e-commerce transactions. Mobile phone
penetration in China is currently estimated to be in excess of 60 million
users and expected to reach 180 million by 2002.
chinadotcom was an early player in the wireless market. Anticipating the
explosive growth of the wireless Internet access market, chinadotcom
previously invested in WAP development company infoisLIVE.com, whose
innovative WAP technology enabled chinadotcom to provide mobile access to its
portal network for China and Hong Kong users. Other chinadotcom efforts to
enable the growth of the wireless community include the development of a
planned a Wireless Business Unit (WBU), a center of excellence for development
and implementation of wireless technology, applications and initiatives to be
set-up later this year.
The strategic alliance with Siemens propels chinadotcom's rich and
compelling content to an ever-larger segment of the wireless community.
Recent upgrades to chinadotcom's technology platform have facilitated the
rapid growth of users of its community and commerce platform, which include
more than twelve '4U' products such as WAP4U, Points4U, Mail4U, Search4U,
Home4U, and Auction4U. Other products and services to be rolled out in the
near future include Business4U, Space4U, and Profile4U, all made possible in
part because of chinadotcom's scalable technology platform underpinning its
entire portal network.
Said Ed Hsu, Chief Technology Officer of chinadotcom corporation, "Our
forward-looking technology features enable us to place our portal network's
content and services on all WAP-enabled phone handsets in China. We are the
only Internet company in China that has this capability."
About chinadotcom corporation
chinadotcom corporation Website -- www.corp.china.com is a leading
pan-Asian Internet company offering web solutions, portal and online
advertising services. Through its three business units, chinadotcom is able
to provide a full range of Internet services around the Asia Pacific region
that; 1) build e-business strategies and solutions (Web Connection), 2)
distribute content via its portal network (china.com, cww.com, hongkong.com,
and taiwan.com), and 3) sell services through online advertising (24/7 Media
Asia).
Fuelling the growth of these three business units is a synergistic
investment strategy that leverages on chinadotcom's existing operational and
cost infrastructure. By partnering with companies that have proven and
successful track records, such as America Online, Softbank, Trans Cosmos and
Agence France Presse, chinadotcom is well positioned to create long term
shareholder value through its investments.
The company has over 1,900 employees in 24 offices across more than
10 markets, including Japan, Korea, Australia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore,
Malaysia, Thailand, and the USA. In Mainland China, the company has
12 offices and over 550 employees. For more information about chinadotcom
corporation, please visit www.corp.china.com .
About Siemens Shanghai Mobile Communications Ltd.
Established in May 1993, Siemens Shanghai Mobile Communication Ltd. (SSMC),
is jointly invested by Siemens Ltd. China, Shanghai Video and Audio Electronic
Co. Ltd., the Shanghai Post and Tele-communications Administration and the
MPT's First Research Institute. SSMC, as one of the key joint ventures in
Chinese telecommunications industry, was the first joint venture in China in
the fields of development, manufacture, sales and services of GSM mobile
communications. The company is the only mobile phone production base of
Siemens outside Germany, supplying products to China and other Asian markets.
SSMC was accredited ISO9002 quality assurance certification in January 2000.
SSMC has an extensive regional sales network in China with distribution
agents and after-sales service centers in various provinces and major cities.
Safe Harbor Statement
The statements in this news release, other than the historical financial
information, may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from anticipated
results. Further information on risk factors that could affect chinadotcom
corporation's results of operations is detailed in chinadotcom corporation's
registration statements and annual report, as filed with the United States
Securities and Exchange Commission.
SOURCE chinadotcom corporation
-0- 07/07/2000
/CONTACT: Susan Chan of chinadotcom corporation, +852-2961-2694, or fax,
852-2571-0410, or susan.chan@hk.china.com/
/Web site: wap4u.china.com
wap4u.hongkong.com
wap.china.com
corp.china.com |
