Sony Ericsson, a mobile phone joint venture between Japan's Sony Corp. and Ericsson of Sweden, aims to boost its market share in China by rolling out lower-priced handsets to target low-end users.

“We'll produce more lower-priced, simpler products, in addition to the high-level products, to obtain more market share in China,” said John Peter Leesi, Sony Ericsson's chief finance officer and vice president.

The world's sixth biggest mobile phone maker saw its market position in China largely improved last year amid aggressive expansion by offering more sophisticated products than its China rivals such as Ningbo Bird Co. and Konka Group.

The firm was ranked the fifth-largest player in China's extremely fragmented mobile phone market last year, compared with the 20th spot it held a year earlier, Michael Ning, director of the public relations and corporate communications department of Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications (China) Co.

China's mobile phone subscribers reached 334 million at the end of last year, the largest in the world, and the number is expected to reach 700 million within five years, accounting for a quarter of the world's handsets.

The growth will be driven by an increased rate of handset replacement in the country's major cities and new subscriptions in rural areas, industry analysts have said.

But the market, which offers over 700 models of mobile phones, is extremely fragmented and no single handset model can pick up a significant market share in China.

Gunilla Nordstrom, Sony Ericsson's vice president and chief principal in China, said the China market was very important to Sony Ericsson and the firm would continue its expansion in the country. But she declined to disclose any specific financial details of the firm's China operations.

In a high-profile news conference in Shenzhen on Tuesday, Sony Ericsson unveiled six new phones, including two that pioneer autofocus cameras and one with a Walkman-branded portable music player.

Eyeing the great opportunity on the much-anticipated rollout of third-generation (3G) mobile networks in China, Sony Ericsson also included two 3G phones in its new products.

China has not issued its 3G license to telecommunication operators as authorities continue to insist on field tests.

“We hope China will issue 3G license soon. The moment the license is issued, the moment we can provide consumers satisfactory products,” said Huang Huiling, Sony Ericsson's chief marketing manager.

(Shenzhen Daily March 3, 2005)