Nokia and Telson Electronics (Telson) today signed an agreement for the joint development, manufacture and supply of CDMA products for Korea and other markets, an initiative signaling the strengthening of Nokia's focus on the Korean market and its portfolio of CDMA products. For Telson, the agreement will bring access to new market segments with the leading brand of the industry.
Under the partnership, Nokia will leverage its CDMA competency to provide the design and user interface for the products and provide specifications and product requirements. Telson will deliver its specifications and undertake the development and production of the mobile phones according to Nokia's requirements. Nokia and Telson are committed to a long-term partnership and will review it with the intention to extend it to other markets for mutual benefits and synergies.
Commenting on the partnership, Nokia Mobile Phones Asia-Pacific's Senior Vice-President, Nigel Litchfield said, "Our partnership with Telson will give us the impetus to provide the Korean market with the most competitive and localized CDMA products in the fastest and most effective way. Additionally, the partnership will allow us to supplement Nokia's own portfolio of advanced CDMA products."
"We will continue to leverage our global expertise on CDMA technology and product development to ensure innovative products for global CDMA markets," Mr. Litchfield added.
"Through this partnership with Nokia for the long-term, Telson intends to grow to one of the top three CDMA terminal suppliers worldwide by the year 2003. To achieve this goal, we are planning to strengthen our R&D facilities by investing a substantial portion of our profit," said Dong-Yun Kim, President & Chief Executive Officer, Telson Electronics.
Nokia's presence in Korea dates from 1984 when it established Nokia TMC Company to manufacture mobile phones in Masan, South Korea. Today, Nokia TMC is the largest mobile phone manufacturing facility in South Korea supplying markets globally. Nokia has CDMA R&D facilities in Korea, which it will continue to build and expand. This is in addition to Nokia's CDMA R&D center in San Diego, which was established in 1991.
About Nokia
Nokia is paving the way to the mobile information society with its innovative products and solutions. The company is the leading mobile phone supplier and a leading supplier of mobile, and broadband IP networks, related services as well as multimedia terminals. In 1999, Nokia's net sales totaled EUR 19.8 billion (USD 19.9 billion). Headquartered in Finland, Nokia is listed on the New York (NOK), Helsinki, Stockholm, London, Frankfurt and Paris stock exchanges and employs more than 56,000 people.
About Telson
Telson is a leader in development, design, manufacture and marketing of wireless telecommunication terminals and related accessories for the worldwide market. Telson has been investing in the development and manufacture of CDMA terminals since October 1997, providing the Korean and the Americas markets with more than 3 million units of PCS single band and Cellular/AMPS.
Telson is also diversifying its ongoing business strategy to maintain a stronger position as a mobile terminal supplier with mobile business such as mobile banking by using Wireless Application Protocol under development by Telson. Telson believes that the innovative products and solutions will pave the way to the mobile information society. Last year, Telson’s net sales totaled USD 350 million and its market capitalization is approximately USD 357 million.
Visit the Nokia Group website at http://www.nokia.com or the Nokia Asia Pacific website at http://www.nokia-asia.com and Telson website at http://www.telson.co.kr.
For further information, please contact:
Nokia Mobile Phones:
Suguna Madhavan, Director, Communications
Tel. +65 477 5307
Fax +65 477 5510
Loretta Lee, Manager, Communications
Tel. +65 477 5397
Fax +65 477 5510
Marianne Holmlund, Manager, Communications
Tel. +358 50 1842
Nokia Korea:
Ji Won Kim, Marketing Manager
Tel. +82 2 2186 5085
Fax +82 2 2186 5099
Telson Electronics, Seoul:
KilSoo Yu, Executive Vice-President
Tel. +82 2 8800 870
Fax +82 2 3461 7671
BK Oh, Director, Strategic Planning
Tel. +82 2 8800 887
Fax +82 2 579 0256