The Taiwanese company E-Ten has launched its business in the market of communicators five years ago, turning over this time from a novice to the industry in one of the most notable players. Of course, production and sales volumes E-Ten concedes his compatriot, the competitor - HTC Computers, but its advantage - a course firmly laid on the production of exceptionally communicators based on Windows Mobile and reasonable price policy in the form of affordable mobile devices with a maximum set of features. Year by year, model E-Ten improved, becoming more attractive in terms of design and more stable in terms of work. On the intricacies of the business policy of the company, exclusive features the latest addition to E-Ten G500, as well as plans for the near future President of E-Ten Wayne Ma (Wayne Ma), told the website MSMobiles.com at the exhibition CeBIT-2006. Below we provide the full text of this interesting interview.
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MsMobiles: I arrive at CeBIT a long time and for the past three to four years, I see your company here. Could you tell us about your experience gained in the development and sales of smartphones? Wayne Ma: Work in this area, we started five years ago. At that time, this area did not take the number of attractive rychnochnyh directions, as many did not believe that a PDA with cellular capabilities tube will gain popularity. We also believe that this combination just need to market and improved technology will reduce the size of the device. Five years ago we realized that this is the right direction and threw it at our research and design resources. We started with simple models to support only dual-band GSM, they were followed by a model with tri-band GSM module with Bluetooth, and then we were able to offer quad-band and with the support of all the possible wireless standards.
About sales scheme
MsMobiles: Unlike you HTC does not sell through the operators. How did you manage to provide the necessary for the survival of sales? Wayne Ma: We work with several operators, but their number is less than the same HTC. The process of obtaining licenses for operators typically takes three months, and the life cycle of communicators are becoming shorter. Currently, he is 9 months. If you spend 3 of them for a license, is only 6 for sale. Therefore, despite the fact that we are ready to cooperate with operators, we mainly use domestic sales channels, brand E-Ten. MsMobiles: I have talked with many companies here in Asia - Hong Kong, China, etc. Seen brought to the exhibition communicators. However, my question about when they will be on sale, I always answered that it depends on when they received orders from operators. I'm glad that you manage to sell their solutions without concluding such deals. Wayne Ma: Our channels are, indeed, allow a large volume of sales in countries where operators do not have much impact on the market.
On the E-Ten G500
MsMobiles: You started to produce communicators with a model P300, then appeared M500, M600, and the last in this series - G500. He is already on sale?
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| E-Ten M600 and E-Ten G500 |
Wayne Ma: We started to supply local distributors in many countries in early March, but will take some time before they appear on store shelves. (Last week sale of E-Ten G500 has already started in the chain stores' computer in the palm ".. - Ed.)
On other models
MsMobiles: Could you say something about your current models? What characterizes them? Wayne Ma: Our devices are stable in operation, and to achieve this difficult, especially on the platform of Windows Mobile.While many companies claim that they can make Windows Mobile-devices, they do not have enough experience to make them stable. Firstly, we are releasing the fifth generation of devices and scored considerable experience in this field. Secondly, our communicators have demonstrated the best performance among all models with Windows Mobile 5.0 in performance tests conducted using Spb Benchmark. And at the heart of this success is not so good processor as an excellent team of engineers to debug memory, drivers, etc., with the result that we obtained better than the competition. Third, communicators - this is our main activity, while many others are doing it sporadically. For several years we have been developing our product line and releasing new models. This year, we expect 3.4 innovations. This means that we have enough advanced technology. MsMobiles: How do you determine the level of stability of your PDA? Wayne Ma: Feedback from our customers, working with our devices, they find them more stable than models from other manufacturers.
On the push-technology
MsMobiles: What are your plans for supporting push-technology? Wayne Ma: The technology is already built in compliance with version AKU2.0 (Application Kit Update - operating system service pack for Windows Mobile 5. - Ed.). When we were preparing to release a M600 in the 4 th quarter of 2005, this version was not ready yet. We expect to begin production of the M600 and G500 supports AKU2.2 since April.
A2DP
MsMobiles: Some companies are having problems with the introduction of technology A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile allows you to output stereo audio to compatible car stereo system or protocol Bluetooth), but you could build her support in your communicator. How do you manage it? Wayne Ma: Yes, we could. But to be honest, setting up was quite difficult. As a result, we are not all full screenshot of the output device, however, created a list of compatibility. With the release of AKU2.2 support A2DP will be finalized.
Markets in the U.S. and South America
MsMobiles: M600 and G500 are equipped with quad-band GSM. U.S. is a list of your target markets? Wayne Ma: Yes, it includes support for 850 MHz, we are ready to enter the markets of North and South America, which uses this frequency.
UMTS & EDGE
MsMobiles: Mobile networking new generations of UMTS and EDGE technologies are becoming popular in Europe, there is a demand for a network that supports data transmission. Wayne Ma: Yeah, I think support for EDGE and UMTS - is very important. Sooner or later, perhaps as early as 2007, every device will work in these networks, EDGE or UMTS. Despite the fact that this year the UMTS-devices have appeared, they are expensive and far from the miniature size. And indeed the technology is still imperfect, and therefore not very attractive to the market. MsMobiles: So you are planning to introduce support for UMTS in their devices in 2007? Wayne Ma: Absolutely. MsMobiles: What about EDGE? Wayne Ma: We expect to release a device with EDGE in the third quarter of this year. MsMobiles: EDGE was very popular in the U.S., and last year the standard was commissioned as a number of European operators due to the fact that they can not provide a complete package of services with UMTS. UMTS is gradually transformed in the U.S., a EDGE - Europe. In the case of UMTS operators have invested large sums of money - millions and billions - in the construction and licensing of networks. Therefore, operators need to launch UMTS, to recover the money invested. By the way, your opinion is about the time the burst of popularity in the world of UMTS also shared the company Mio Technology. Wayne Ma: We are closely watching market UMTS-parts, and yet they are not compact, which makes it impossible to create lightweight mobile devices for these networks. But in the second half of 2006, parts become smaller, which will begin production of compact communicators. As for EDGE, it's just a more mature technology, so she appeared on the market before.
On the GPS / TMC
MsMobiles: The G500 integrated receiver GPS. Have you had experience working with GPS to this model? Wayne Ma: We work in close collaboration with RoyalTek, known for its mature technology of production of GPS-receivers. The company is our subsidiary, which makes it possible to produce communicators with GPS.MsMobiles: What distinguishes you from other manufacturers of GPS-devices? Wayne Ma: First of all, we have developed many models of communicators. We moved from the M600 to G500 on the same-developed technology platform, so that all our devices are reliable and stable. Second, we work with RoyalTek, which also has excellent sound technology. And, thirdly, we are the only company that is built into the communicator module GPS with TMC (Traffic Message Channel - technology that allows you to receive information on road conditions. - Ed.), Developed by Destinator and Navigon. MsMobiles: What about the use of alternative navigation systems - ALK CoPilot and TomTom? Wayne Ma: We are in talks with TomTom. However, according to our estimates, Destinator Navigon and run faster.
FM-radio
MsMobiles: Initially, TMC has worked on the waves of FM. Why do FM-receivers are not included? Wayne Ma: On the contrary, the radio is built into our model. MsMobiles: That is, the G500 has FM-radio? Wayne Ma: Yes, the hardware is already included, and accompanying software will be ready next month. MsMobiles: From a marketing standpoint, this is a significant advantage, it is necessary to notify consumers. Wayne Ma: Yes, of course. MsMobiles: In Europe now embedded digital radio and television. Although there is already a standard DAB, FM is still popular, so having the radio on a mobile device - a significant advantage. Wayne Ma: Actually, if you visit our stand at CeBIT, you will also see other our products with DAB receivers, and GPS. MsMobiles: Very good that you include FM radio with support for features RDS (Radio Data System - broadcasting system for transmission to the ultra-short waves, together with an audio signal a small amount of digital information such as weather, currency rates, etc. - approx. ed.). Wayne Ma: Integration of FM-tuner was simple, but as communicators are primarily intended for business people, we're not quite sure whether the radio they have claimed. MsMobiles: Do not forget that every business person is also a personal life:) So this is a serious advantage.
The quality of voice communication
MsMobiles: communicator based on Windows Mobile do not usually give good quality sound. Do you use any means to improve voice communication? Wayne Ma: Yes, every one of our phone needs to undergo a series of certification tests. We have special equipment, which evaluates the quality of sound - very expensive. As far as consumers, have different expectations, it is very difficult to measure and evaluate, as prerequisites are such factors as place of residence, quality of coverage area of cellular network, individual features of conversation, language ... MsMobiles: Yes, exactly, is language. After all, if we carry out tests on the Chinese language, the test results in the case of the English-speaking interlocutors are just sad ...
QWERTY-keyboard
MsMobiles: Most popular devices purchased Blackberry, a well built-in QWERTY-keyboard. Do you plan to support this type of keyboard? Wayne Ma: Yes, we plan to produce communicators equipped with QWERTY keyboards. The authors, translation: