It is learned from China Mobile that TD mobile devices are growing more competitive and are more accepted by consumers. In future, the TD market will be further expanded. As of July 2011, there were 630 TD devices, 317 of which were mobile phones.
Wu Weining, general manager of China Mobile terminal sales company, told reporters that the major terminal manufacturers at home and abroad would launch a variety of TD devices including the Samsung S2, the Moto 870, theNokia T7, the HTC Z710t, the BlackBerry 9788 in the second half of this year, and the new wave of devices is bound to create momentum in the market.
With users paying more attention to mobile computing, such smart devices have become an important competitive factor. After experiencing many difficulties, TD-SCDMA, China's first 3G wireless communications international standards with homegrown intellectual property rights, has entered a golden era. The mobile computing market now features "three pillars."
To cooperate with device manufacturers
TD faced a bumpy road with only 8 initial devices. Fortunately, it now has entered an unprecedented "Golden Age."
In 2008, China Mobile invested 600 million yuan in TD device R&D to encourage mobile phone manufacturers to produce TD handsets for different consumer groups, and this move achieved immediate results.
According to statistics, in the first seven months of this year, more than 15.235 million units of TD devices have been sold nationwide and the number of users has exceeded 35 million. The figure will continue to grow in the second half of this year.
The support of TD mobile phone manufacturers including Nokia, Samsung, LG, Motorola, HTC, Sony Ericsson, RIM, Lenovo, Yulong, ZTE, Huawei and other mainstream brands manufacturers has led to the growth.
The Secretary General of the TD technology forum, Shi Guang, said that at present, China has 900 million mobile phone users and China Mobile accounts for 600 million. As users shift from 2G to 3G, TD devices have very good market prospects, an important reason why China Mobile can promote the rapid development of TD.
The Chinese market will become an important battleground for global mobile phone manufacturers.
Meng Pu, senior vice president of Motorola Mobile, said that with the energetic efforts of China Mobile, the market potential of TD cannot be ignored by any mobile phone manufacturers. He added that Motorola is pleased to cooperate with China Mobile.
Motorola has released two TD mobile phones, the MT620 and MT870, sucessively, in the second half of this year, and Samsung will launch the world's thinnest dual-core smart phone, the GALAXY S2, later this month.
The Blade U880 was the TD star launched by ZTE in June this year. The smartphone's monthly shipments have exceeded 200,000 units. ZTE's general manager of TD terminals department Wang Yong also expressed that the TD market has entered a flourishing period.
To strengthen TD Chips
In the beginning, TD devices were very lagging in performance and quality, and the TD-SCDMA standard was also only in the Chinese market. At that time, most international chip manufacturers were suspicious of China's standards and reluctant to invest in R&D. Dr. Li Tingwei, General Manager of Marvell China Business, pointed out, "China put forward its own 3G standard, which had a huge impact on the entire industry. Some chip manufacturers hesitate to invest in it as they found that there was a great conflict of interests between TD-SCDMA and other technology they strongly supported.
However, chip support was crucial for the development of TD-SCDMA technology.
After a great deal of research and effort, TD devices now have reached advanced levels in communication capabilities, stability, integration, power consumption, and technology. As of May 2011, TD chip shipments have exceeded 45 million units.
"Compared to WCDMA technology, TD has strong prospects and benefits. TD chips use TDD technology, consuming less power than WCDMA chips. Meanwhile, TD mobile phones are much cheaper than WCDMA devices," Ivan Lee, the global VP of Marvell R&D, said.
TD-chip technology has improved significantly, and the world's thinnest handsets will also be listed.
Steady progress of TD industry
The general industry consensus is that TD-SCDMA development largely depends on the devices.
Vice President of China Mobile Li Huidi said that most operators regarded the device manufacturers as an important starting point in developing market and improving efficiency.
Li also said that the current TD-SCDMA industry chain is still not perfect. On the one hand, a proper testing system has not yet been created; on the other hand, the product experience and marketing capabilities of TD devices need to be strengthened.
2011 is bound to be a year of rapid development for TD-SCDMA devices. China Mobile's TD network has gradually improved, users have gained a deeper understanding, and the 3G industry chain has received the support of a variety of chips and devices, playing a significant role in enhancing the market competitiveness of TD devices.
However, it does not mean that the TD product chain has become fully mature. Yang Hua, Secretary General of TD Industry Alliance, said, "It is undeniable that more work lies ahead. The importance of TD-SCDMA, as China's first homegrown international telecommunications standard, is self-evident."
"In the future, China Mobile will continue its win-win cooperation to further enhance the confidence of the industrial chain, to actively promote the joint development of the TD industry, to strengthen the coverage of the TD network, to optimize network performance, and to enrich product resources to meet market needs," said Li.
"TD-SCDMA terminals will have a very strong market prospects."
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