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China Mobile Is Counting on Android By Bruce Einhorn August 25, 2009 7:28AM     China Mobile is planning to roll out a series of smartphones that operate on Android, the operating system promoted by Google. Android is an open-source OS, leading China Mobile to dub its phones using the software OPhones. Another important difference between China Mobile's offering and Apple's: Lots of companies will make the OPhone.   Related Topics China Mobile Android Google iPhone Ophone Windows Mobile Dell Lenovo Latest News Plasma-TV Ban Could Be Costly Barnes & Noble Nook Is Delayed Flat PC Shipments Hurt Dell's Stock Ballmer Says Windows 7 Sales Good New Pogoplug 'Cloud' Gets Social China Mobile, the world's largest cellular operator, has an answer for Chinese consumers impatient to get their hands on Apple's iPhone. The market has plenty of pirated and smuggled iPhones but Apple hasn't concluded a deal with a Chinese carrier to carry legitimate versions of the hot handset. So China Mobile, which had negotiated unsuccessfully with Apple to launch the iPhone, has an offer for its users: Can't wait for the iPhone? Try the OPhone instead. The operator and the big-name electronics companies it has lined up as partners hope consumers won't care much about the one-vowel difference. China Mobile is planning to roll out a series of smartphones that operate on Android, the operating system promoted by Google. Android is an open-source OS, leading China Mobile to dub its phones using the software OPhones. Another important difference between China Mobile's offering and Apple's: Lots of companies will be making the OPhone. Among the big-name players working on producing OPhones for China Mobile are Dell, Philips, LG, and Samsung. China Mobile could use a boost. With 493 million subscribers, the company has more than 70 percent of the Chinese cellular market, well ahead of rivals China Unicom and China Telecom, but it is facing growing competition now that the Chinese government, after many delays, has finally opened the country to 3G networks. The stock price is up just 6.5 percent this year, compared to a 17 percent rise for Unicom, a 32 percent increase for Telecom, and a 41 percent jump for the benchmark Hang Seng index. On Aug. 20, China Mobile reported that second-quarter earnings fell 1.6 percent to $4.4 billion on an 8.9 percent rise in sales to $31.2 billion. That's the first drop in profit in a decade -- and makes it all the more important for China Mobile to come out with a popular line of 3G phones. Probably the first to come out with an OPhone handset will be Lenovo Mobile, one of the top local producers of cell phones. The company is a former subsidiary of PC maker Lenovo that since last year has been a separate company, backed by Lenovo parent the Legend Group. A spokesperson for Lenovo Mobile says the company will launch an OPhone next month. Neither China Mobile nor Apple responded to requests for comment. Running on a Local 3G Standard Lenovo Mobile is already gearing up for the debut. For instance, surfers online can get a peak at Lenovo Mobile's marketing campaign (including young models in bikinis and one-pieces lounging poolside with their OPhones).The phone will operate on TD-SCDMA, a locally developed 3G standard that the Chinese government has authorized China Mobile to use. China Unicom and China Telecom are using standards that are more accepted internationally, UMTS and CDMA 2000. (continued...) 1  |  2  |  3  |  Next Page >   © 2009 Business Week Online under contract with MarketWatch. All rights reserved.   Advertisement  Mobile Phones 1.   Palm Pixi Is Stylish But Sluggish 2.   AT&T Fires Back at Verizon with Ad 3.   Apple Gets iPhone OK in South Korea 4.   Palm Tries To Find Smartphone Niche 5.   Verizon: AT&T Wants To Hide 3G Truth

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