Sony Ericsson gets green light in China

After announcing in April its intention to pursue the Chinese market, Sony Ericsson recently received the necessary approvals to kick start handset operations in Beijing. The joint venture also will launch a research and development center.

Sony Ericsson China plans to ship its T68ie and T202 mobile phones first, followed by models T602, T302 and P802 later this year.

Sony Ericsson initially said it would invest more than $39 million to set up its China subsidiary. This may turn out to be a sound investment, as wireless customer growth in the country is skyrocketing.

For instance China Unicom, the country’s second largest cellular phone carrier, reportedly began adding more than 15,000 customers per day to its CDMA network in July.

Total CDMA subscribers stood at 936,000 customers at the end of June. Should the carrier continue on the pace it set in July, it would add more than 450,000-465,000 customers monthly for the rest of the year.

Since launching its CDMA network in January, China Unicom experienced sluggish adoption of CDMA primarily due to a shortage of CDMA handsets. Perhaps this no longer will be an issue as more handset manufacturers set up shop in the country.

-- Kelly Carroll, staff writer