[3GScottishUser]

Vodafone to launch 15 new 3G phones

Fri Sep 16, 2005 7:59 AM BST

LONDON (Reuters) - Vodafone will introduce 15 new 3G mobile handsets in a bid to boost mass market adoption of its 3G service in the run up to Christmas, the world's biggest mobile operator said on Friday.

The company said 10 of the new handsets would be exclusive to Vodafone , six of them targeted at entry level pricing to encourage the mass market adoption of its 3G services

http://today.reuters.co.uk/Investing/FinanceArticle.aspx?type=stocksNews&storyID=2005-09-16T065719Z_01_NOA625010_RTRUKOC_0_TELECOMS-VODAFONE.xml

[3GScottishUser]

Some further details....

LONDON (Reuters) - Vodafone plans to introduce 15 new 3G mobile handsets in the run-up to Christmas to boost mass market adoption of its third-generation (3G) mobile service, it said on Friday.

The world's biggest mobile operator by revenue said 10 of the new phones would be exclusive to Vodafone, six of them targeted at entry-level customers as the British-based firm looks to encourage the mass market take-up of its 3G services.

"We are confident that this is going to be a 3G Christmas," Chief Marketing Officer Peter Bamford said in a statement.

The period before Christmas is a key trading period for mobile phone operators and Vodafone is hoping to boost customer take-up for its 3G services with phones that offer CD-quality sound, MP3 players, video and audio streaming and video calls.

Vodafone (VOD.L: Quote, Profile, Research) said four new handsets -- two made by Sharp and two by Toshiba -- would target the premium segment, with one phone -- the Limited edition Sharp 902 Ferrari -- featuring exclusive Ferrari content.

The entry-level phones, also exclusive to Vodafone, will include two handsets each from Sharp and Samsung and one each from Motorola and Sony Ericsson.

The non-exclusive handsets include the Motorola RAZR V3x, the Nokia N70 and 6280, and the SGH-Z500V and SGH-Z140V phones from Samsung.

Vodafone said all its new 3G phones will offer new services, with more than 500,000 full-track music downloads available to customers in addition to an increasing range of mobile TV services and content.

Vodafone, which launched its 3G service in November last year, expects 10 million customers across its businesses to be using 3G mobile video and picture phones and high-speed laptop cards by the end of this financial year in March 2006. In July, the company reported 3.3 million 3G customers.

http://today.reuters.co.uk/Investing/FinanceArticle.aspx?type=stocksNews&storyID=2005-09-16T070633Z_01_NOA625010_RTRUKOC_0_TELECOMS-VODAFONE.xml

[Jon3G]

it will be interesting to see were the 15 handsets come from and the quality of the handsets going forward. 15 is a big number and we may see some crap in there

[3GScottishUser]

This link will prove interesting to those who want full details and specs of the handsets arriving shortly. Note the new Sagem UMTS offering.

http://www.vodafone.com/assets/files/en/UMTS-Handys_160905_eng.pdf

[getti]

i have put the news at www.todayon3g.co.uk along with pictures of the new phones

[3GScottishUser]

Cool, the list of the 20 models looks very impressive although it was released by Vodafone Germany. They tend to offer the same range in all of their markets and have been known to redirect stock from one country to another to meet demand.

Vodafone have a target of 10 million on UMTS in Europe by April 2006 - looks like that could be a realistic target.

[getti]

The ones I have put on Today On 3G are UK based and not taken from the Germany release.

It's for the UK

[Ben]

Not that awe inspiring really - most of these handsets we've known about for months now, some of them we've known about for weeks, and just a couple are ones I've never seen before.

Still, if Vodafone's range will be that wide by Christmas then they have every right to shout about it. They do need to make sure they have the full range available though, not just two or three like they did when they first launched. There's a few Samsungs in there that will no-doubt sell well, especially if they can get them onto PAYG too, and I like the (albeit old?) 6280 and N70. The 6280 especially could be very competitively priced I feel.

Bring on the 3G Christmas :)

[getti]

I am dissapointed with the christmas range apart from the N70. The 903 and 703 are already out so apart from the N70 and 6280 the rest seem to be Samsungs with small differences and just a new look.

The only good thing to come out of this is the fact by christmas more and more people will convert over to 3G which is a good thing.

I am seeing more and more people out and about with 3G phones now (Mainly LG or Samsung).

[Nero]

I am seeing more and more people out and about with 3G phones now (Mainly LG or Samsung).

But more importanty do these people know that they have 3G phones, or do they infact even care? I'm not convinced that many people are really bothering to use the full 3G capabilities even when they have the technology.

[3GScottishUser]

If the Samsungs are priced well (and it looks like they will be - SGH Z140 @ £116.99 now!!), I dont hold out a lot of hope for LG's. Side by side in a store comparison I cant imagine many choosing LG over Samsung. Vodafone really have gone overboard to create a massive range and it'll dwarf others in terms of display area in the stores....and looks very impressive!

So Vodafone now offer SonyEricsson, Samsung, Sharp, Motorola, Toshiba, Sagem and Nokia 3G handsets. Can anyone think of a network that has a better range?

This 3G market is always surprising, 'tortoise and hare' comparisons were made some time ago and they were dismissed as silly. Time seems to be proving that assertion correct and timing looks like the key factor now for all those who want to share in the 3G marketplace.

[Ben]

But more importanty do these people know that they have 3G phones, or do they infact even care? I'm not convinced that many people are really bothering to use the full 3G capabilities even when they have the technology.
I suspect a great many 3G phone owners don't know/care that they're on UMTS, but to be honest I don't think it really is that important. For 3G capabilities to move into the mainstream, especially video calling but also for content providers, there needs to be a high level of 3G device proliferation.

Only when 3G phones saturate mobile phone ownership to a certain extent will things really become interesting. Up until that point, I think the challenge is just getting the things into peoples hands whether they know what advantages they bring or not.

By heavily pushing their 3G handset range, Vodafone will be seeding their subscriber base for more lucrative opportunities in the future.

[3GScottishUser]

Agreed totally.

I bet most who buy those neat little Samsungs wont know what technology they use, nor should they care. As long as the device does what the customer wants then that's OK I guess.

More 3G handsets will open up the possibility of more folks using extra services and that is the key. Whether they will be aware they have new technology in their pocket is really not that important to anyone other than the networks. I predict that after the dust settles and there are many more of these devices in use networks will have to provide some serious education just as Orange tried with their 'Trainer' initiative.