Siemens mobile moving business in China forward

World IT Report, Jun 21, 2004

Siemens mobile, the mobile communication group at Siemens AG, 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.