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China Mobile (Hong Kong), the world's largest mobile carrier by subscribers,
has signed an agreement with Canada's Research in Motion (RIM) to distribute
the Blackberry line of wireless products and services in China, a move that may
help it slow a decline in revenue per user.
The deal could give RIM, which has a tie-up with Hutchison Telecom and CSL in
Hong Kong, access to China's 315 million mobile subscribers. RIM's flagship
Blackberry products allow users to access their electronic mail accounts using
wireless technology, and have about 1.6 million users worldwide.
"This is a good opportunity for Blackberry to gain a foothold in the China
market,'' CLSA head of telecom research Francis Cheung said. "There should be
good demand in China for wireless data services from corporate users.''
However, the success of Blackberry in China will depend on the pricing
structure, he said, adding that demand has been hit by the high licensing fees
for the Blackberry server software in Hong Kong.
China Mobile had over 191 million subscribers at the end of August. Half-year
sales this year increased 13 per cent to 86.4 billion yuan (HK$81.41 billion)
from the same period last year, with net profits rising 8 per cent to 18.8
billion yuan.
Fierce price competition for voice services had driven average revenue per user
(ARPU) down to 96 yuan per month from 104 yuan a year earlier. Offering users
higher margin data services such as Blackberry is seen as key to slow the
decline in ARPU.
A spokeswoman for RIM said only 500 Hong Kong corporate customers had been
signed up by Hutchison Telecom since it began offering Blackberry in 2002. In
March, CSL also began selling Blackberry devices to customers in Hong Kong.
The spokeswoman said the agreement signed with China Mobile last week did not
finalise a timetable for the launch of Blackberry products and services in
China.
"Our previous experience in other countries showed that it takes around six
months to launch, but it depends on the market and the carrier,'' she said.
mark.lee@globalchina.com
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