To: gdichaz who wrote (12424 ) 6/11/2001 11:22:57 AM From: Eric L Respond to of 34857 re: Korean Handset Exports << Everything in Gent's history shows if he considers something important, he will find a way. >> Yup! >> Non-CDMA Handsets Cash Cows for Exporters Digital Chosun Cho Hyung-rae June 11, 2001 Korea's export of non-CDMA mobile handsets is emerging as the nation's most lucrative export product. The nation's leading handset makers, such as Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, Pantec and Saewon Telecom, have succeeded in striking deals to export large quantities of non-CDMA handsets based on Europe-centered Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and North America Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) standards. Out of the total $7.4 billion in mobile handset exports by domestic firms last year, exports of GSM mobile sets accounted for a surprising $3.7 billion, despite that the Korea mobile market has fully converted to CDMA technology. A high-ranking official at Samsung Electronics said Monday that the company has recently completed building a mass production system for the TDMA handsets, which is widely used in North and South America. The official also said his company plans to ship two million TDMA handsets a year to countries in Central and South America, including Mexico and Brazil. Samsung Electronics has already launched a GSM mobile set manufacturing plant in Spain. Exports of GSM handsets account for more than half of the firm's exports. LG Electronics succeeded in exporting a large quantity of GSM mobile sets to Indonesia last month and plans to tap the Russian Market this month. Pantec, a latecomer, expects to realize around W130 billion in exports for this year on GSM-based handsets. Saewon Telecom has signed a contract to export 400,000 units of GSM handsets to China before the end of this year. The firm estimates it will sell over a million units in China next year. << - Eric -