"We want to see Motorola as the most desired brand," country manager for mobile devices Chongruk Sakulpakdee said on the sidelines of the recent CommunicAsia 2006 trade show, which ended on Friday.

Chongruk said Motorola - the world's second-largest handset-maker - commanded the second-biggest share of the Thai market.

Amer Husani, vice president for Motorola's 3GSM mobile device business, said Thailand and India were among the company's high-growth markets.

There are more than 30 million mobile-phone users in Thailand out of a population of about 64 million. And Motorola's Razr models are among the hot-picks.

In taking on Nokia, Motorola has aggressively tapped the fast-growing mass market, instead of just going for the premium segment, which is in line with the parent company's policies. Motorola used CommunicAsia to unveil five new handsets for the mass market - the W220, W375, and W208, which are GSM, and the W210 and W170, which use CDMA.

Vittakarn Chandavimol, the firm's regional marketing manager for Thailand and Indochina, said the three GSM models would be available in Thailand soon.

"According to our surveys, price is still the first thing people think about when buying a mobile phone, followed by functions and brands.

"But some of our surveys suggested that brands come first. That's why we divided the products into the mass and premium categories to serve both kinds of consumers," he said.

Motorola is also focusing on selling accessories, specifically Bluetooth wireless connectivity devices and portable chargers, one of which - the P790 - was unveiled at CommunicAsia.

The P790 will be available worldwide in pink, orange, green, purple, blue and black.

Jim Wicks, Motorola's head of Consumer Experience Design and chief designer, said that nowadays colour, material, and finish were no longer just for decoration but an essential ingredient and an intrinsic part of the handset.

"As colour blazes its way into all aspects of our lives - from fashion to furniture, cars to consumer goods - we expect the same experience from our mobile phone," he said.

Chongruk said Motorola would expand its customer service centres nationwide this year. It currently has just one centre in Bangkok.

She said Motorola recently launched a reward programme to encourage dealers to boost sales.

The firm will also open a concept store at Siam Paragon shopping centre next month where consumers will get hands-on experience of the products.

Besides competing with Nokia, Motorola has also had to do battle against the illegal importation of its own handsets. "We're in discussions with the parent company about solutions to this problem," said Chongruk.

Usanee Mongkolporn

The Nation

SINGAPORE