Huawei Technologies, the nation's largest telecom gear maker, plans to put its own CDMA mobile phones up for sale in domestic market in November as it gears up for third-generation (3G) mobile handsets by diversifying its product range, the China Business Daily reported Wednesday.

Fu Jun, a Huawei spokesman, said the Shenzhen-based company had already started to market CDMA phones in some areas of the country and its GSM phones were undergoing trial test.

Huawei gained approval from the National Development and Reform Commission in March to produce mobile phones based on code division multiple access (CDMA) and global system for mobile communication (GSM) technologies.

Huawei plans to work through its good relations with both wireless service providers and retailers in launching its CDMA phone marketing offensive, putting even more high, middle and low-end products in the market next year. Its plans for GSM phones, however, are more modest.

At a time of market slowdown in the Chinese mobile industry with major domestic manufacturers TCL Communication Technology Holdings and Ningbo Bird Co. both reporting losses, the company is planning to only test the water in the GSM market.

In diversifying its product range, Huawei is putting the emphasis on its CDMA and 3G handsets, which have already achieved sales success overseas. Analysts see Huawei's entry into the Chinese 2G market as a positioning move for the future domestic 3G market with Huawei hoping to become the number one brand.

(Shenzhen Daily September 1, 2005)