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To: Eric L who wrote (12776)	6/18/2001 9:24:48 PM
From: puborectalis	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 34857

China to soon eclipse U.S. in handset sales By Jack Robertson EBN (06/15/01 17:28 p.m. EST) Recent Articles Communications Nokia invests in wirless-chip maker nBand Communications Hitachi rolls out high-end 16-bit controller line SigmaRAM group expects samples of 18-Mbit memories in Q4 Group enhances QDR SRAM spec for 333 MHz; samples due in Q4 TI claims world's smallest logic package for portable consumer products Nortel forecasts another loss and reduces workforce by 10,000 Archives HONG KONG -- Shrugging off a global slump in wireless handset demand, China is expected to surpass the United States in cellular phone ownership by the end of the year as the market here rides what some industry executives say will be a 50% increase in handset sales. China's cell phone market will see an additional 45 million subscribers this year, bringing the country's total installed base to 130 million users, said Joe Yiu, corporate vice president and general manager of the Asia-Pacific region at Motorola Inc.'s Semiconductor Products Sector, Austin, Texas. That compares with a 2000 base of about 100 million users in the United States, where growth is expected to be relatively flat this year, according to Motorola. Yiu said that while the increase is considerable given the slowdown in demand in most other markets, China's potential has hardly been scratched. “A new wave of sales will sweep the market as rural China starts wireless phone service,” he said. “Living standards and phone usage patterns in rural China are changing rapidly.” China's income-constrained agricultural sector, however, will adopt what Yiu called “frugal” handsets that eliminate features such as displays and reduce service fees by offering prepaid pay-per-call debit cards. Other industry executives concurred that the growth of China's cell phone market shows little sign of slowing. Raymond Lee, vice president of Asia-Pacific at Advanced Micro Devices Inc., noted that unlike other parts of the world, China's wireless handset market has seen no buildup of flash memory components, which are used to provide both code and data storage in cell phones. In fact, AMD, Sunnyvale, Calif., could experience an added boost in flash sales thanks to the health of China's wireless handset industry. Last month AMD renegotiated its flash sales contract with joint-venture partner Fujitsu Ltd., allowing it for the first time to sell flash ICs in China. Chinese handset makers are also exuberant about the growing home market. Typical is Shenzhen-based Kejian Corp., which expects to increase shipments by 33% this year, to just under 1 million units, said Li Yi Huan, the company's product marketing representative. During interviews at the Elexpro Communications 2001 wireless trade show earlier this month in Shanghai, executives from Ericsson, Kyocera, Nokia, and Siemens held a shared opinion that strong cell phone sales will continue in China throughout the year. Kejian also hopes to prove that China's state-owned manufacturers can make it on their own. Huan said the company is now profitable and is making all products itself without foreign assistance, having ended a manufacturing agreement with Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. Samsung is still in a partnership with Shanghai Bell to build handsets and basestation equipment for 3G cdma2000 networks based on a protocol developed by Qualcomm Corp. and recently adopted by China Unicom. China is setting up tests of both 3G standards as well as for its own TD-SCDMA format. Siemens AG has been working with China's Ministry of Information Industries (MII) to develop equipment for TD-SCDMA. Dongqing Liang, product manager at Siemens, said the German company is working in partnership with China Datang, a domestic, state-owned firm. First test trials of TD-SCDMA are expected by the end of the year or early in 2002, he said. Liang claims that Chinese TD-SCDMA has an advantage over other 3G formats because it's “unpaired,” meaning the same frequency link can be used for uplink and downlink, rather than the separate uplink and downlink required by rival 3G standards. Siemens, which has been working for several years with MII on TD-SCDMA, hopes to hold a lead over other wireless vendors. However, all the other major handset and equipment companies have now joined the industry/government TD-SCDMA Forum that is coordinating activity on the standard.