Chinese Mobile Communication Market: Siemens and Bird Conclude Phase 1 of Joint Marketing Offensive - 8,000 of Partner Ningbo Bird's Shops Selling Siemens Handsets - Training for 20,000 Sales Staff

Business Wire, June 21, 2004

SHANGHAI, China -- Siemens mobile, the mobile communication group at Siemens AG (NYSE:SI) (FWB:SIE), is moving its business in China forward with a sales and marketing offensive together with Ningbo Bird Co., Ltd (Bird), one of the leading brands in the China market. Its strategic partnership with Bird is providing Siemens mobile with access to a total of 30,000 shops in Bird's nationwide distribution network in China. The first 8,000 shops will be equipped with Siemens products and merchandise within the coming weeks. Dedicated training centers have been established to train some 20,000 sales staff from the Bird dealer network.

"China is Siemens mobile's most important market in Asia. We're putting our strengths to work to broaden our market share by building upon a strong brand to offer the right products nationwide," said Siemens mobile President Rudi Lamprecht at a joint press conference with strategic partner Bird in Shanghai.

The timing for this sales and marketing offensive is ideal: The Chinese mobile communication market is growing by some five million new mobile phone subscribers a month. Now that up to 90 percent of the inhabitants of such major metropolises as Shanghai and Beijing already own a mobile phone, the strongest growth today is being seen in the country's medium-size cities and rural regions. The sales and marketing partnership with Bird, the leading local mobile phone manufacturer, will afford Siemens mobile access to these growth regions: Bird is opening its nationwide dealer network of some 30,000 shops to Siemens. The first 8,000 outlets will soon be fully equipped. By the end of this year, 16,000 shops will be equipped.

The joint Siemens and Bird training center will be located in Shanghai and with a branch office in Ningbo. Moreover, training courses will be conducted in all provinces of China. The objective is to improve the staff skills in technology, sales and management, and other areas.

At the official launch of the Siemens mobile/Bird partnership in Shanghai, Rudi Lamprecht viewed the future with optimism: "Through our partnership with Bird, we're moving into China's major growth regions. Only weeks after the agreement was signed in Berlin, the partnership is already up and running. Thousands of shops have been outfitted with our products, thousands of sales staff are currently being trained - it's an enormous logistical challenge, but we're right on schedule. This demonstrates that the strengths of the two partners outstandingly complement one another."

Xu Li Hua, Board Director of Ningbo Bird Co., Ltd. said, "We have built up our own strong sales network in China. We are committed to being the vanguard of mobile phone development in China. The long-term strategic partnership with Siemens will also assist Bird to expand our presence and overseas market in the coming future. This partnership which extends from sales, after-sales service to technology and international activities is true co-operation of two excellent companies."

With more than 290 million mobile subscribers, China is the world's largest mobile communication market. And the number of subscribers will continue to rise in the years to come: It is estimated that there will be some 435 million mobile communication customers in China by the year 2008, with growth stemming from the country's medium-size cities and rural regions, in particular.

Photos about Siemens mobile in China are available on the Internet at:

www.siemens.com/icm-pictures/soicm200440