Asian telcos closer to consumers
At least that is what the GSM Association says that holds its annual session in Bangkok.
They are saying that mobile companies in Asia were successful in penetrating their target markets and that European and US companies could learn from them. The association is quoted as saying that "Asia’s mobile operators are unique in being close to the street, less bureaucratic, more open to ideas, and resilient by playing in a more competitive arena than the rest of the world."
Lim Chuan Poh, CEO of SingTel Mobile is quoted as saying that the Asian market would be as large as the European market and would be three times bigger by 2008.
However, we don't necessarily agree with his comments that handset makers should start focusing on low end models to entice more users to enter the market. Yesterday's Asian Wall Street Journal (Sept. 23, 2004) described that low cost handset makers in China are losing their market share gains against the traditional handset makers, such as Nokia, Samsung or Sony Ericsson because users demand higher end models, and those handset producers won't have the capacity to increase their R&D efforts to move up the value chain. They also don't have the relationship with suppliers that would allow them to access pieces and material of high-end mobile phones for production.
Still, this doesn't mean that all is lost. It just means that companies producing those handsets need to focus on their markets - razorsharp - they have a chance due to the high fragmentation of the Asian markets where penetration ranges from as low as 2% to more than 100%.
They are saying that mobile companies in Asia were successful in penetrating their target markets and that European and US companies could learn from them. The association is quoted as saying that "Asia’s mobile operators are unique in being close to the street, less bureaucratic, more open to ideas, and resilient by playing in a more competitive arena than the rest of the world."
Lim Chuan Poh, CEO of SingTel Mobile is quoted as saying that the Asian market would be as large as the European market and would be three times bigger by 2008.
However, we don't necessarily agree with his comments that handset makers should start focusing on low end models to entice more users to enter the market. Yesterday's Asian Wall Street Journal (Sept. 23, 2004) described that low cost handset makers in China are losing their market share gains against the traditional handset makers, such as Nokia, Samsung or Sony Ericsson because users demand higher end models, and those handset producers won't have the capacity to increase their R&D efforts to move up the value chain. They also don't have the relationship with suppliers that would allow them to access pieces and material of high-end mobile phones for production.
Still, this doesn't mean that all is lost. It just means that companies producing those handsets need to focus on their markets - razorsharp - they have a chance due to the high fragmentation of the Asian markets where penetration ranges from as low as 2% to more than 100%.
posted by Andreas @ 12:19 pm
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