|
|
英国金融时报：中国电信与Palm接触中！
Tough times for China's telecoms
* h5 o! U! s. b: \0 i7 C; g) `By Kathrin Hille in Beijing$ E. |8 Q3 @* G8 j) i+ Q
Published: August 27 2009 03:00 | Last updated: August 27 2009 03:00( G* H9 A! q! N9 Y n5 o4 X
虽然没说是谈Treo还是Pre，但这是迄今为止最权威的消息来源了！
, E; y6 l1 P# _
# n7 G& R) K. c0 UWhen China Mobile, the world's largest telecoms operator by subscribers, reported its slowest interim profit growth in 12 years last week, investors were underwhelmed - especially as management warned that margins would remain under pressure.
E8 @2 F7 E4 R3 _
) }8 t- w6 ^* v7 }9 y3 ePart of the former mono-polist's troubles is the intensified competition that has come with the government-ordered industry restructuring last year, which made China Telecom and China Unicom rivals.' v2 C) ~2 G8 v/ q, k6 G
( G& L4 ]/ Y' QBut that does not mean China Mobile's two smaller rivals, set to report today and tomorrow, will present a drastically different picture. Although they have brighter prospects for gaining market share, China Mobile's drop in average revenue per user and the downtrend in earnings growth is a taste of what is in store for all three." v/ k( p& m+ a: _* {! k8 o9 z$ Q
! n9 q9 N% Z% d/ s. `+ \
"The main growth momentum in China's telecom sector will have to come from signing up new subscribers in rural areas from now on," says Charice Wang, an analyst at Ovum, the research company. "Since these subscribers tend to spend much less than urban residents in general and business users in particular, this will continue to drive average revenues per user down."7 ]# x: Z/ t- y$ n3 Z7 w
& S# X. f! u. u+ J+ O) uThat comes just as the three are expected to invest $58.5bn until the end of 2011 to build their 3G networks - their main chance to get things back in balance by making high-end users spend more by using more data and other value-added applications.( X1 g) x4 G0 {5 l, D9 d% o$ v. U5 ]
, A3 ?: |( o9 y
First, the three operators are trying to lure and keep such high-end customers by offering a broader range of attractive handsets - China Mobile has said it plans to launch more than 100 3G handsets, and it is also launching the OPhone, a series of handsets using Google's Android source code.
/ g( L! K+ I% @; n* F. }) r# |3 K: U& _
China Unicom is in talks with Apple over exclusive rights to sell the iPhone in China. And China Telecom is planning to offer the Palm to its subscribers.（中国电信正计划向其用户提供Palm——没说是Treo还是Pre）' f7 A# H: ], q4 [6 D8 G
9 \1 A# H8 w; |7 I/ n8 ~5 }
In addition, China Telecom is trying to exploit its advantage of being the sole provider with fixed-line and mobile services. "They are focusing on bundling and convergency services and offering a lot of new tele-conferencing and videoconferencing services," says Ms Wang.% I' d% k* k2 r
% _7 _- C9 v0 O r
"As they are the smallest of the three, his attempt to create a niche market is a smart strategy."( A% P% _+ B7 B. j
: s* G1 |$ z: Q( r; [6 ?4 kChina Unicom is bestpositioned for 3G as it has been awarded a licence for WCDMA, the standard with the best handset offerings. But analysts say the company needs to improve its marketing.8 x: c2 x1 B* N0 J' w# A
% }) A' f- \. L5 b3 C$ h! k
However, all these efforts at increasing revenues may not be enough, telecom experts warn. "We are looking at huge investments and little returns," says Yu Wei, head of IBM's telecommunications practice in Greater China, which does consulting work for all three operators. "They have an immediate pressure to reduce operating expenses."
1 i5 V9 R s6 ~% Z+ n, u3 k S* |8 O/ v9 P* a% b+ f& r. N# n+ P
Each of the operators have 15,000-30,000 stores countrywide - vastly more than their peers in many other markets. While China Mobile has 1,600 outlets in Guangdong Province, a US operator would have just 10 in New York, a comparable area, says Mr Yu.$ \$ q( Q" x7 ?1 C U# |9 s
8 W) x& o1 n7 ]
Another area with cost-cutting potential is the management of the carriers' mobile networks. "They have got to learn how to achieve a better balance between utilisation and coverage," Mr Yu says.
1 {( N6 V, ^% S# S2 F0 H! u: ^ J9 U4 Y, s
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. You may share using our article tools. Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.
# m |, F# s4 y$ \7 I* J* ~8 J7 y) J; J6 x/ Z- [8 S
[ 本帖最后由 EricHoo 于 2009-8-29 07:15 编辑 ] |
|
|Archiver|手机版|小黑屋|吹友吧
( 京ICP备05078561号 )
狗仔卡
发表于 2009-8-15 06:03
提升卡
变色卡
显身卡
怀疑炒作