China takes a new role in handset design

China, the world’s largest cell phone consumer, is now becoming a hotbed of handset design. In the past year, major manufacturers have expanded design divisions and new design houses have emerged in China’s largest cities.

China has long been the leading market for handset design. The country’s Ministry of Information Industry says that 300 million Chinese will own cell phones by the end of 2004. Until recently, however, almost all hand set designs and manufacturing took place outside of the country.

But that is changing. Cell phone industry leaders like Nokia, Motorola and Siemens are starting to move more of their functions to China. Nokia has increased its design staff in Beijing by 20 percent. Siemens moved the headquarters of its Asia-Pacific mobile phone division to China and will increase its handset staff from 180 to 1,600 by the end of 2005. Nokia has already introduced its 6108 handset, which was designed entirely in Beijing.

Independent firms based in China are starting to win contracts away from Taiwan and South Korea. Those countries have previously dominated the Chinese handsets market. South Korea is the world leader in cell phone design.

Designing handsets for the Chinese market is challenging. One analyst described the handset market as “fickle” noting that Chinese vendors may stock as many as 800 different mobile handsets. Like consumers worldwide, the Chinese want more features. Digital cameras, 65,000-color display and are now standard on most handsets sold in the country.

Chinese companies are hoping that soon, they will be among the world’s leaders in handset cellphone design.

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About The Author:

Wendy Whittaker is a successful author and regular contributor to http://www.1st-in-cell-phones.com. A cellular phone industry resource featuring articles, comparisons and reviews of cellular phone and service plans.