Byline: EMMIE V. ABADILLA

SHENZHEN, China a" Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., the largest telecom vendor in Mainland China, is eyeing the Third Generation (3G) handset and network market in the Philippines, according to Corporate Communications Department Director Fu Jun.

"We hope

Since last year, Huaweias 3G handsets and data cards have been commercially used all over the world, specifically in Western Europe.

The price of their 3G handsets varies, depending on their configuration, from US$250 to $400 per handset for the top model. The low-end, mass market handsets will go for $150 per unit, according to the Director.

Overall, Huawei believes that 3G handsets should not be a lot more expensive than existing 2G handsets. And while Huawei did not make 2G units, it ventured on handset manufacturing to help its sell its 3G networks to mobile service providers.

Already, Huawei has set up a handset manufacturing subsidiary which hauled in $400 million revenues in 2004 and expects to bring in some $700 million this year.

Last week, Huawei launched its 8th 3G mobile handset, the U526, with dual cameras, a high definition video playback allowing users to watch action movies comparable to DVD videos on a PC and access online applications easily.

Company officials believe that the market for 3G will be more segmented than 2G, so operators should develop a greater variety of services to address the wide range of customers needs.

More than anything, handsets will play a vital role in differentiating the various needs of customers and a good variety of handsets will be required to address such needs.

Currently, Huawei supplies telecoms equipment to over 100 countries, including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Portugal, Russia, Brazil, Singapore and serves 22 of the worldas top 50 operators.

Last year, its contract sales amounted to USD$5.6 billion and in the first half of 2005, its sales have exceeded $4.1 billion, of which more than 62 percent, or $2.5 billion, came from international markets.

Huaweias 3G solutions have been deployed in Holland, United Arab Emirates, Hongkong, Malaysia and Thailand.

Its Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) Mobile Soft Switch system is currently applied on a large-scale basis in Mexicon and Pakistan and is used by CAT of Thailand.

Huaweias strengths are its high-quality solutions, delivered at reasonable prices, and its very aggressive approach to selling itself offshore, analysts noted.

Furthermore, Huawei is at the same starting point as its peers like Ericsson and Nokia in terms of its strength in 3G technology.

Unlike most other Chinese firms, the privatelyheld company invests more than 10 per cent of its annual revenues in research and development (R&D) expenditure. Of its more than 34,000 workers, over 16,500 are in R&D.