Much-maligned TD-SCDMA standard to receive boost from Nokia, Samsung, says research
Momentum could finally be growing behind China Mobile's fledgling 3G services and the TD-SCDMA network technology that only it uses, according to Strategy Analytics.
Its research predicts a seven-fold increase in sales of compatible handsets this year, boosted by long-awaited support from Nokia, Samsung, Huawei, ZTE and Mediatek.
China Mobile itself has stated it will be launching 80 TD-SCDMA handsets this year as part of a $6.6 billion 3G investment.
According to Reuters, Strategy Analytics didn't break out specific sales forecasts, but based on the 3.4 million TD-SCDMA handsets sold by China Mobile in 2009 a seven-fold increase would be in the region of 24 million units.
If that does indeed come to pass it suddenly represents a sizable market for content providers to aim for.
Article continues belowAdvertisement
China's 3G market is intensely competitive, and China Mobile's cause has not been helped by its usage of the TD-SCDMA network standard - it has several times called for help from big overseas handset manufacturers in supporting the format.
Conversely, rival China Unicom is already offering the iPhone as it uses the well-eastablished UMTS 3G standard, while China Telecom has no shortage of device support as its uses the also widely adopted WCDMA standard.
