DBTel Industry Co Ltd, a Shanghai subsidiary of Taiwan-based DBTel Inc, aims to become the leading mobile telephone maker on the Chinese mainland and expand its research and development team to prepare for the start of third generation (3G) mobile communications.

The Shanghai subsidiary plans to boost its share of the global system for mobile communications (GSM) phone market on the Chinese mainland from 9.5 percent at the end of last year to 15 percent in the first half of this year, said Henry Peng, executive vice-president of DBTel Inc, in an interview in Beijing.

"The competition scenario will stabilize after 2005 after brutal fights, so this year and the next will be critical for everyone in the market and we must grasp the opportunities," said Peng.

DBTel Industry, the only mobile phone maker holding a production licence on the Chinese mainland but with backing from Taiwan investors, will focus on the high-end market this year.

DBTel mainly targeted female users aged 20-30 years old as well as the low or mid-range market last year. But high-end male users will become DBTel's priority in 2004.

The company will release several models including smart phones and the M7 handset, which is capable of recording eight hours of video content.

On the other hand, DBTel will try to form a closer partnership with mobile operators, which are playing a bigger role in the mobile phone market.

China Mobile, the country's dominant mobile operator, already ordered some phones from foreign makers including Nokia, Samsung, Motorola, Sony Ericsson and NEC last March with its own logo and aims to promote the use of high-end services like multimedia messaging services. Peng said DBTel is talking with the operator about supplying it with several models, including the M7 phone.

Besides marketing, DBTel Industry will also expand its research and development units in Shanghai, Nanjing and Hangzhou and recruit 2,400 people within three years, which will make the total number of employees to 3,500.

The company also has 600 engineers in Shanghai working on the development of 3G mobile phones in all three major international standards. Peng said the first DBTel 3G mobile phone will be released between August and October.

DBTel Industry, the most important production base for Taiwan-based DBTel Inc, plans to make 20 million phones this year and 6 to 8 million units will be sold to overseas markets.

(China Daily March 5, 2004)