Wednesday, April 9, 2008

BenQ steps up handset outsourcing

Taiwan-based handset vendor BenQ has stepped up the outsourcing of handset manufacturing to makers other than Qisda, its former handset manufacturing unit, to strengthen its competitiveness, according to market sources in Taiwan.

BenQ is outsourcing the production of its new 3G handset, the E53, to China-based handset maker ZTE, with shipments to begin this quarter, said the sources, noting that the E53 will be based on the MD2, a clamshell form factor handset jointly developed by ZTE and Momodesign for 3 Italia, the mobile media arm of Hutchison Whampoa in Italy.

BenQ also plans to launch its second NFC (near field communications) handset, the T60, in the second quarter, with the production of the handset likely to be outsourced another Taiwan-based maker, rather than Qisda, which manufactured BenQ's first NFC handset the T80, the sources indicated.

With orders coming from BT, Motorola and Kyocera, Qisda may not have enough resources and capacity to meet the requirements from BenQ, pushing BenQ to accelerate its outsourcing plans, the sources speculated.

source

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