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Published on January 30, 2008

Sakchai Lertwatechakul, PhoneOne department manager of Wireless Device Supply, which markets the handsets, said yesterday that the availability of more low-priced multimedia phones had been made possible by the declining cost of production.

The phones are aimed to tap the low-end market, which has high demand for feature-rich devices at affordable prices.

Currently, the average price of mobile phones in Thailand is around Bt4,000.

PhoneOne yesterday launched six new models, ranging from a basic phone worth Bt1,300 to multimedia phones and a wristwatch phone. It targets sales of 500,000 mobile phones this year worth Bt1.3 billion, up from 150,000 units last year worth Bt400 million.

Last week Nokia also debuted its Nokia 2600 Classic multimedia phone at a price of around Bt3,000. The brand is aimed at tapping the teen market upcountry.

Sakchai said PhoneOne would roll out 20 new models this year, of which

half will feature multimedia functions.

It will spend over Bt100 million on marketing campaigns.

There were around 8 million new handsets sold in Thailand last year and 20 per cent were in-house brands.

Currently, the i-Mobile phone of Samart I-Mobile is the leading in-house brand by offering multimedia phones with affordable price tags.

Sakchai said handset sales in Thailand this year would be between 8 million and 10 million.

Sirivish Toomgum

The Nation