The mobile communications market in China is characterized by vast opportunities and great challenges. With a large of population of over 1.3 billion and with a relatively low mobile phone penetration of 35%, China’s mobile communications market con...
The mobile communications market in China is characterized by vast opportunities and great challenges. With a large of population of over 1.3 billion and with a relatively low mobile phone penetration of 35%, China’s mobile communications market continues to be one of the worlds most dynamic and fast growing markets.
Chinese mobile carriers, China Mobile and China Unicom, recruit about 60 million new subscribers each year. The number of total mobile phone users in China has surpassed 400 million. As China considers issuing third generation mobile communications (3G) licenses, at least one new Chinese mobile carrier will join the competition. It is widely believed that the massive deployment of 3G networks would not start until 2007. In addition to optimizing the existing second generation (2G) of mobile communication networks and developing more value-added services, the Chinese mobile carriers will have great interest in 3G equipment and applications in the coming two years. As competition intensifies, the carriers will need more business management tools to drive down their costs and maximize profits. However, equipment vendors have to deal with many challenges when selling to the Chinese mobile carriers. Mandatory government requirements, carriers’ requirements, the growing trend of centralized procurement, and the slow decision-making process will greatly challenge the patience and endurance of equipment vendors, especially small and medium-sized vendors.