14 DAY TRIAL // According to Digitimes, BenQ is preparing to launch a massive avalanche of mobiles throughout the year, somewhere around 50 million units to be more precise, which means somewhere around 30 new BenQ terminals will surface this year.
Considering the company has announced really impressive goals and plans to compete with the biggest players on the market after taking over bankrupt Siemens Mobile, such a strong approach is mandatory and should be put into action carefully. The announcement regarding the company's plans were made by BenQ president Sheaffer Lee.
Still, since BenQ's overall handset shipments totaled 15 million units in the October-December period of last year, the first quarter of operation which followed the acquisition of Siemens AG's mobile phone unit, the 50 million units announced for this year don't seem such an impossible target to reach. Analysts are also very optimistic about revenues this year for mobile phone producers, even if there's no match for the record results registered in 2005. According to Lee's predictions, markets in Europe and China hold the highest growth potential.
BenQ ALSO plans to expand the size of its research and development teams in Taiwan and China to about 1,000 each from the current 500-600 persons. This means the entire staff working in R&D will grow to almost 300 specialists, including the 800-900 person team in Europe the company inherited from Siemens.