Dopod expects a 50-percent jump in revenue in the Chinese mainland this year despite the financial crisis which has dragged consumer confidence downward, the smartphone maker said yesterday in Shanghai.

Dopod, whose overseas brand is HTC, displayed its G-Phone yesterday and said the models with Google's Android system will be available in the mainland in the second quarter next year.

After posting high growth this year, Dopod's sales will continue to surge in the domestic market next year when faster networks are slated to be ready, said Jackie Zhang, Dopod's marketing director, who declined to provide detailed sales figures.

He said that with more 3G services being planned and the launch of Wi-Fi, Dopod's revenue would be boosted.

China's mainland is widely expected to issue 3G licenses next year to China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom. The 3G networks allow users to enjoy more high-speed data services such as video calls, film downloads and remote monitoring on phone.

The two 3G technologies, CDMA2000 (code division multiple access) and WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), are used globally.

The third, the home-grown TD-SCDMA (Time Division-Synchronous CDMA), has been tested by China Mobile in major cities nationwide, including Shanghai and Beijing.

Dopod has launched TD-SCDMA phones and provided CDMA, both 3G and 2G, phones to China Telecom.

The WCDMA phone is a strong part of the company's portfolio as many models are now used in overseas markets, Zhang added.

(Shanghai Daily November 12, 2008)