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Smartphone competition hits overdriveFeb 03, 2011 (Bangkok Post - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Fierce competition in the mobile phone market is bringing down prices of smartphones and hurting house-brand mobile vendors. Sales of smartphones at this weekend's Thailand Mobile Expo are expected to rise by 20% in volume from last year while value is projected to be steady at 1.3 billion baht, reflecting lower unit prices. "Heavy competition will lower smartphone prices at least 20%," said Opas Cherdpunt, the managing director of M Vision, the organiser of the expo that will open today at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center in Bangkok. "Demand growth is expected with Android-based smartphones, cut to 9,900 baht from 12,000. Android-based users are mainly university students and first-jobbers." Many brands will introduce Android-based smartphones at the fair such as the Motorola Defy at 12,900 baht, the Charm at 9,900 baht, the Samsung Galaxy Cooper at 9,900 baht, and the Acer E140 at 6,590 baht. LG will showcase its Optimus 2X and Black.Meanwhile, Nokia will launch the E7, which offers Symbian for business users and C6 for touchscreen phones. HTC will introduce the Mozart, the second model of Windows Phone, at 17,900 baht. Another growth area is QWERTY feature phones with prices ranging between 3,000 and 8,000 baht. This segment is popular among 11- to 17-year-olds, who love to chat and use social network sites. "Most users come to buy smartphones because of the promotions and these users know about specifications such as display, processor speed and mobile operating system," he said. To see more of the Bangkok Post, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.bangkokpost.com/. Copyright (c) 2011, Bangkok Post, Thailand Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. |