Gome Electrical Appliances Group aims to sell 10 percent of
mobile phones in China this year after it established a new
telecommunications unit two months ago and acquired rivals such as
Dazhong Electronics, China's No. 1 home appliance vendor said
yesterday in Shanghai.
Gome Mobile, the newly launched unit, plans to sell 18 million
cell phones this year. The Gome Mobile's revenue will account for
15 percent of the company's total revenue in 2008, Sun Yiding,
Gome's vice president said.
In 2007, Gome sold 10 million mobile phones in the domestic
market.
China's total mobile phone sales are expected to reach 189
million units in 2008 compared with 150 million last year,
according to Beijing-based research firm CCID Consulting.
"We will continue to use the merger and acquisition strategy,
especially handset chain retail stores. We plan to open 500 new
stores this year," Sun told Shanghai Daily at the launch of
Dopod Communication Corp's new phones.
Gome will also strengthen partnership with the phone vendors,
such as Dopod, according to Sun.
Gome, ahead of arch rival Suning, acquired Beijing-based Dazhong
recently. It also purchased Shanghai-based Yongle previously.
Yesterday, Shanghai-based Dopod launched two new phones
including a flagship model P860 with a touch-screen and built-in
GPS, costing 7,480 yuan (US$1,024).
The firm aims to launch its first 3G phone by the middle of this
year, Paul Hsu, Dopod's chief operation officer, said.
(Shanghai Daily January 10, 2008)
