Bangalore : Mitsubishi Electric is looking at notching up a market share of25 per cent of the high-end cellular handset segment by the end of the nextfinancial year.The company, which launched its handsets around 5 months ago in India, hopesto sell 100,000 units in fiscal 2001-02, according to its channel partnerHAT Trade president and chairman Isaac Waldman.
Mr Waldman told The Financial Express that the Indian market would grow by amillion new handsets and replacements and that the company hoped to get 10per cent of this, mostly in the high-end segment.
Mitsubishi Electric, which sells its handsets under the Trium brand, onTuesday announced the launch of its Mondo palm top-cum-mobile phone with aprice tag of Rs 59,999.
The company's European subsidiary director Koji Ono said the shift in thewireless market was clearly towards data with 2.5 G (GPRS) and 3G (UMTS)standards all set to upgrade existing networks.
Apart from the technology factor, it was also a question of lifestyle thatwould provide the push towards wireless Internet requiring service providersand operators to offer stable products and networks as also content to theend-user, he said.
Mitsubishi Electric was identifying specific applications in the Indiancontext and would tie up with software companies to partner with it todevelop these, Mr Kono said.
The company currently has three models in India ranging from the basic Rs4,500 handset to a WAP phone that retails for Rs 21,000.
Copyright © 2001 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
