SANYO AND NOKIA TO SET UP JOINT VENTURE ON CDMA 3G MOBILE PHONES.

Japanese electronics group Sanyo and the world's leading manufacturer of mobile telephones, the Finnish Nokia group, unveiled plans on February 14 to set up a joint-venture to develop and sell CDMA standard third-generation (3G) mobile telephones. The new venture, the precise structure of which has still to be settled, is due to be launched in the third quarter of this year.

The two companies indicate in a joint statement that they aim through this alliance to market CDMA standard handsets worldwide and thereby emerge as the market leader on this segment. CDMA/CDMA2000 is one of the third generation technologies currently used around the world alongside W-CDMA/UMTS. It is notably present in Japan (the network operated by KDDI), South Korea and the United States. Sanyo, which produces top-of-the-range CDMA handsets for KDDI, is absent from other markets for the same handsets.

The Osaka-based group (western Japan), currently in the throes of restructuring, hopes through this alliance to establish its brand worldwide on the mobile handsets market by taking advantage of Nokia's profile and international presence.

Sanyo also hopes...