The Hindu Business Line : Samsung mobiles turn Bengali

HAVING launched mobile handsets with menus in regional languages such as Tamil and Marathi earlier, Samsung India Electronics Ltd (SIEL) on Wednesday launched the E800 model handset with a Bengali menu.

By early next year, the company will launch mobile handsets with menus in Gujarati and Punjabi languages, according to Mr Kunal Ahooja, Vice-President (Telecom) of SIEL. The handset with the Bengali menu willsoon be launched in Bangladesh as well.

Addressing a pess conference here, Mr Ahooja said that SIEL was the number two player after Nokia, in the Indian market for mobile handsets. He, however, refrained from mentioning any figures pertaining to the existing or even targeted market share.

He said about 20-25 per cent of the company's total revenue in the current calendar year would be accounted for by sales of telecom products.

Mr Ahooja said that a total of 15 million new mobile handsets was expected to be sold in 2004.

This figure was expected to go up to 20 million by next year. Colour and camera phones were driving the replacement market for handsets, he said, adding that this year, theywould account for 25 per cent of the overall replacement market for mobile handsets.

According to Mr Ahooja, the future holds a great promise for mobile handset manufacturers, especially with the telecom sector estimated to grow by 40-45 per cent annually.

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