ALCATEL FORECASTS PROFIT FROM MOBILE TELEPHONY DIVISION IN 1998.

Alcatel has announced that it expects its mobile telephony division to post a turnover of more than a billion ECU (FF7 billion) for1998, practically double the figure for 1997. Unveiling three new models in the "One Touch" range on September 24, the company announced that following years of losses, the division has turned in a slight operating profit since the fourth quarter of 1997. The French company sold 3 million mobile handsets in 1997 and having equalled this figure over the first half of 1998 alone, expects to sell 8 million GSM units over the year as a whole. Europe is expected to represent 70% of sales and the Middle East 15%, with Asia (the group has begun trading in China) and Australia accounting for the remaining 15%. On GSM sales (a standard that currently accounts for 40% of the global mobile telephony market, a figure expected to increase to 50% by the...