CALGARY, Aug 16, 2001 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Zi Corporation (Nasdaq: ZICA) (TSE: ZIC) continues its role as a dominant text input provider to Korean handset manufacturers, by signing a licensing and royalty agreement with SK Teletech. SK Teletech is a major provider of handsets to SK Telecom, the largest CDMA (code division multiple access) service provider in the world.
Mobile phone manufacturers in Korea are shifting their focus to the export market in addition to meeting rapidly expanding domestic needs. Strategically positioned between the world's largest mobile phone markets, Japan and China, Korean manufacturers are poised to realize tremendous growth in handset exports as consumers in these markets demand devices with advanced functionality.
"The China market is expected to become the world's largest CDMA market in the next five years," says Gordon Tsang, director, Sales, Zi Corporation. "With this export strategy in mind, Zi's language expertise is fundamental in developing a superior product with global market appeal."
eZiText(TM) will initially be implemented in SK Teletech handsets in English and Chinese with expected commercial production to begin in the first quarter of 2002. eZiText(TM) enabled handsets produced by SK Teletech will support recent advances made by SK Telecom in the CDMA market in China. In June 2001, SK Telecom signed a contract to supply CDMA consulting services to Unicom Horizon Mobile Communications, a Chinese CDMA mobile communications provider and an affiliate of China Unicom, China's second largest mobile communications firm.
"eZiText(TM) will assist us in producing handsets that are truly consumer oriented," said Mr. Kyung Hong, president, SK Teletech. "We succeeded in the Korean handset market by introducing new features and innovative designs. We will succeed in developing superior 3G devices with Zi Corporation's expertise in defining an intuitive user interface."
In addition to English and Chinese, which will be involved in the initial implementation, eZiText(TM) has been licensed in thirteen other languages to support SK Teletech export efforts. Future implementations may include eZiText(TM) capabilities in French, German, Italian, Japanese or Korean. |
