NEC to Launch New Mobile Phones in Russia
NEC Corporation today announced its new step to expand global mobile business, the entry into mobile solution business in Russia. NEC revealed new mobile phones “e242” and “e101” to Russia. NEC also reveals its new branding strategy and slogan “Get Personal”, which is in line with NEC’s global corporate statement “Empowered by Innovation ( TM )”, to further expand its mobile business in Russia. Starting with these two new models with three color variation as one of the key products, NEC will pursue its new strategy to enter into the wider-range product market segment to appeal to various consumers in Russia. With the new and specific target market segmentation, NEC will further launch products answering to the requirements from every customer of each segment.
“Get Personal” is a new slogan to help NEC increase its awareness in the mobile terminals arena and build brand loyalty in Russia. We are aiming to position the company as the most creative, leading mobile solutions company. Varieties of mobile terminals are being introduced for the global market this year. This new slogan will be a dynamic step towards strengthening NEC’s presence in the Russian mobile market, and is also in line with the strategic move to expand NEC’s mobile business globally.” said Hiromi Orikasa, General Manager of Mobile Terminals Marketing & Sales Division, NEC Corporation.
“Our latest challenge regarding current brand perception is to create a unique, human and user-friendly image, showing NEC’s deeper level of communication with consumers by defining ourselves as a “people company,” which proactively reaches out to customers to gain knowledge about their needs in Russia. Then, customers can acquire not only the latest state-of-the-art technology but also a mobile phone that suits their own lifestyle.” said Orikasa.
The new models introduced today are clamshell-shaped e242 & e101. They target a wider range of people, from business to individuals, with friendly, simple and stylish designs. The feature-packed e242 are equipped with 300,000 pixels digital camera with various camera functions, 1.9 inch color large TFT screen with 65,000 colors, JAVA and MMS. The e242 also feature 64 polyphonic ring tones and also support motion jpeg, movie CLI, MP3, IRDA and USB connectivity, among other things.
“NEC leading position in many parts of the world, including Japan, United Kingdom, Australia, Italy, France and China, has given NEC an edge for sure and steady business expansion in Russia, were subscriber base reaches 74 million. This market will become one of most important for NEC, where the company can demonstrate its full competence in mobile multimedia and mobile Internet” said Akihiko Satake, Chief Representative of NEC Corporation Moscow Representative Office. “Having an extensive experience in the telecommunications industry in Russia, we plan to focus on creating new mobile Internet market there.”
“We consider our entry to highly competitive handsets market in Russia to be a very serious step. And we understand well that our success to a great extent depends on our local partners. We carefully examined all the possibilities and have chosen Betalink and Irson Group companies to be NEC distributors of handsets, and Vympelkom Company to become our authorized service partner” said Oleg Logunov, Senior Manager of Mobile Terminals Department, Moscow Representative Office.
NEC will also be involved in creating mobile infrastructure in Russia by supplying 2.5G mobile internet platforms to realize various value-added services, and also 3rd Generation ( 3G ) mobile infrastructure, with its leading position in worldwide commercial deployment.
NEC’s total mobile solutions in Russia will be ranging from 2.5G and 3G mobile terminals, 2.5G mobile application platforms, 3G infrastructure, wireless access systems, telecom software and other advanced mobile/wireless technologies.
About NEC’s Global Mobile Business
NEC is a total solution provider for 3G and mobile Internet. It has been involved in every first-stage rollout of 3G systems worldwide. It is also responsible for developing the first 3G handsets for the world’s first 3G networks. NEC has competence in the mobile Internet field with its mobile infrastructure system, mobile application platform and its impressive portfolio of contents. NEC’s mobile handsets are known for their prominent technologies including large color screens, built-in cameras and other functions that make them ideal for use in the mobile Internet. In the 3G/mobile multimedia global, NEC aims to take strong initiative to create the market and to obtain leading position.
About NEC’s Business Development in Russia
NEC has been involved in businesses in Russia for more than 30 years, contributing to the deployment of most telecommunications infrastructures such as public switching systems, over 30,000 km of optical transmission systems, over 9,000 km of microwave systems including Trans-Siberian-Line networks, Satellite communication systems and enterprise communication systems. Especially as for microwave system, we have supplied over 12,000 sets as a part of Mobile Infrastructure System to Russian Mobile Operators and contributing to the enhancement of Mobile Services. It has also pursued technology transfer to local joint venture partners. NEC Neva Communications System, a manufacturing facility of public switching system, is the first joint venture company of Russia and Japan in high-tech area. NEC has also transferred optical transmission technology to EZAN, Experimental Factory of Russian Science Academy.
About NEC Corporation
NEC Corporation ( NASDAQ: NIPNY ) ( FTSE: 6701q.l ) is one of the world’s leading providers of Internet, broadband network and enterprise business solutions dedicated to meeting the specialized needs of its diverse and global base of customers. Ranked as one of the world’s top patent-producing companies, NEC delivers tailored solutions in the key fields of computer, networking and electron devices, by integrating its technical strengths in IT and Networks, and by providing advanced semiconductor solutions through NEC Electronics Corporation. The NEC Group employs more than 140,000 people worldwide and had net sales of 4,906 billion yen ( approx. $47 billion ) in the fiscal year ended March 2004. For additional information, please visit the NEC home page at: http://www.nec.com
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MEDIA Contact: Ludmila Novichenkova
NEC Corporation
Moscow Representative Office
Tel: +7 ( 095 ) 780 95 55
e-mail: pr@nec.ru
Akiko Shikimori
NEC Corporation
Tel: +81 3 3798 6511
e-mail: a-shikimori@ay.jp.nec.com
Chris Shimizu
NEC Europe Ltd
Tel: +44 ( 0 )20 8752 2794
+7 ( 095 ) 766 32 08
e-mail: chris.shimizu@uk.neceur.com