LIBERTYVILLE, Ill.-The world’s handset makers continue to make news at a frantic pace, with Motorola Inc. announcing a range of new products and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. trumpeting its market successes.
First, Motorola announced six new mobile phones, mainly low-end devices that will sell in Europe and Asia in the coming months. At the top of the list is the new Motorola C550, which features an integrated digital camera, multimedia messaging and Java support. The company said the phone will sell in Europe and Asia in the fourth quarter of this year. Motorola has been criticized for its lack of camera phones compared with other handset makers.
Motorola’s other announced phones, the C450, C250, C200, V150 and C343, are mainly lower-end models for Europe and Asia. However, the C343 features ring tones, games and embedded and downloadable animated screen savers, and is available in North America.
“Every one of these new handsets has been designed to combine Motorola’s leading technology with affordability,” said Tom Lynch, president of the Motorola Personal Communications Sector. “Our strategy is to invite and enable millions of additional consumers to join the wireless revolution-and, in turn, expand opportunities for wireless operators to increase revenue streams through growth enabled by the mass market.”
Separately, Motorola’s rival in the handset market, Samsung, announced it is on pace for 55-percent growth in its North American wireless handset business for this year. The company said the increase marks six consecutive years of growth for Samsung’s wireless phone division. The company currently sells eight camera phones in the U.S. market.
Samsung also outlined some of its U.S. plans for next year. The company said it will sell phones that support video mail and video-on-demand services, as well as a TV phone. Samsung said it will introduce handsets featuring megapixel cameras, combined GSM/CDMA phones, phones with embedded Wi-Fi, and Windows Mobile- and PalmSource-based handsets with new designs and higher-speed processors.
Samsung also said it launched its Mobile Enterprise Solutions Program for selling phones to businesses, and it has conducted trial programs with GE Interlogix, Schindler Group and Memorial Hermann Healthcare System in Houston.
And in Japan, Casio Computer Co. signed an agreement with Hitachi Ltd. to create a joint venture handset company, according to reports. The companies said the joint venture will make multimedia phones, and it will help to cut handset development costs. The companies said they plan to expand the joint venture overseas in the future.
Finally, the world’s No. 1 handset maker Nokia Corp. also made news, announcing Belgian consumer organization Test-Aankoop performed new tests on Nokia batteries and determined Nokia original batteries are fully protected against short-circuiting and safe for consumer use.
