Posted on 18-Feb-2003 07:28
| Filed under: News
: Mobile
: 3G
Swedish-Japanese mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson launched its first 3G mobile phone, the Z1010, and said it aims to return to profit this year by boosting market share as handset prices could fall more than 10 percent.
Executive Vice President Jan Wareby told Reuters in an interview that the company, which had a market share of about six percent in the fourth quarter, was still seeking to become the number one player in handsets in 2006, overtaking four bigger firms including leader Nokia.
"We have plans to return to the black this year through increasing market share. Being number one in 2006? We still have a clear objective to be there," Wareby said.
Wareby said the 3G phone, which offered live video conferencing thanks to an inbuilt video camera, would be shipped to operators for testing in the second quarter and would become commercially available in the second half of the year.
With a clam-shell design, the phone has one video camera for the person-to-person calls and another one which is similar to a camcorder and can record short video clips. It has a colour screen and battery life comparable to today's GSM phones.
The main display is a full graphic 65K colour display and a grey scale status display is located on the front panel of the phone, for easy access to information when the phone is closed. The integrated camera is easy to use for capturing still images and video, which can then be sent as MMS or e-mail. There is also a dedicated video call camera placed below the main display, so while the camera is filming the user, he or she can watch the other party in the display.
