Palm Launches Treo 650 Smartphone in China

Posted By: Ryan Wednesday, November 30, 2005 10:19:18 AM

Palm in cooperation with CEC Telecom Co., a subsidiary of Qiao Xing Universal Telephone, Inc., a leading manufacturer of indoor phones and mobile phones and a go-to-market partner in China, today announced the launch of the Palm Treo 650 smartphone in China. With its full-featured GSM/GPRS/EDGE quad-band phone, a Palm OS organizer, messaging, email and web access capabilities in a compact design, the localized Chinese-language Treo 650 brings the Palm mobile-solutions experience to Chinese consumers and businesses.

The Treo 650 is available now at key retailers in China. CECT is an excellent fit for Palm's sales and marketing strategy in China. The collaboration taps into the growing China market, which according to IDC is expected to be close to 7 million converged devices to be shipped by 2009, representing a compounded annual growth rate of 28 percent.

"Palm is thrilled to collaborate with CECT to help reach the huge market potential in China and redefine the smartphone experience there," said John Hartnett, Palm senior vice president for worldwide sales. "We look forward to serving Chinese mobile professionals and businesses with a tool that helps them stay connected to important information, whether it's in the corporate data center, on the web or on the smartphone itself."

"The increasingly mobile work force in China is looking for mobile devices that feature superior ease of use and excellent hardware and software integration -- all to manage their busy lives," said Gu Lei, chief operating officer, CECT. "Palm's innovative and easy-to-use smartphone, together with CECT's well-established status in the local mobile-phone market, will provide a competitive edge for Palm and help it lead the development of smartphone trends in China."

"It's Time for Treo" Campaign
To build awareness for the Treo smartphone, China is the first market in the Asia Pacific region to launch the "It's Time for Treo" campaign, positioned to address business professionals in China. The integrated marketing campaign will have outdoor, airport and print advertising, in-store merchandising, and online interactive contests to support the Treo 650.

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Palm Red Edition...

legodude522 @ 11/30/2005 1:43:27 PM # Q
http://tinyurl.com/9zo8q

Palm m125 December 25, 2003 to March 24 2004 > palmOne Zire 71 March 24, 2004 to March 31, 2005. Tapwave Zodiac 1 April 18, 2005 to present.
RE: Palm Red Edition...
LiveFaith @ 11/30/2005 3:59:49 PM # Q
I'm not near as bothered by that as the thought of how tiny the Treo's keys will have to be to fit all those Chinese characters on it!

Pat Horne; www.churchoflivingfaith.com
RE: Palm Red Edition...
ackmondual @ 11/30/2005 6:05:14 PM # Q
there are MANY methods to inputting chinese characters into computers. There wouldn't really need to be anything different, as Chinese input is really just a QWERTY keyboard with the pinying characters on them (these are used to sound/pronounce the written characters). While I doubt there's enough space on a tr650's tiny keys to put these in addition to english letters, I'm sure they'll manage just fine.

Another interesting thing is that cellphone seems to be the preferred method of inputting chinese characters there.... over a QWERTY keyboard. At least this is what 3 of the ppl I've talked to there say. Evidently, for one input method, the numpad and perhaps some predictive text allow faster access to write characters that it really does have QWERTY beat. This is in contrast to english input where QWERTY is FAST, but only with 10 fingers going at once. Else, ya need predictive text or FITALY to supplement the speed.

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I wonder how many Chinese in China can afford this

ackmondual @ 11/30/2005 3:29:53 PM # Q
Large cities like Shanghai and Beijing can probably have a good market base being that they're the closest thing to a modern city there is. Shanghai actually ain't half bad at all in that regard. However, the rest of China is so piss broke that it's quite beyond analagous to the US at one time of "10% of the population owning 90% of the countries wealth"

I suppose concessions can be made. For example, in an effort to recoup losses on piracy, M$ is selling winXP for a fraction of the price that US, UK, and Europe pays to conform to their lower salaries. And yes, if you move to the US, then you gotta pony up to your new salary bracket, but it doesn't apply to vice versa. I could see Palm doing something like this.

I am still "haunted" by the image of some beggar on the street who stopped his normal routine of begging so he could answer his cell phone. That was VERY ODD.

"Do you know the difference between an error and a mistake? Anyone can make an error, but that error doesn't become a mistake until you refuse to correct it."
-Grand Admiral Thrawn

the secret to enjoying your job is to have a hobby that's even worse

My PDAs: Visor --> Visor Neo (blue) --> Zire 71 --> Tungsten T3 (with 4 of 6 screws still remaining) ~?~> zodiac 2?

RE: I wonder how many Chinese in China can afford this
cervezas @ 11/30/2005 3:56:40 PM # Q
Interesting question. One factor to consider is that in poorer countries smart mobile devices are far more likely to be used as primary computers than in rich countries where PCs are everywhere. I was just reading the other day about the popularity of a "virtual" bank in South Africa where people who are too remote to get to a brick and mortar bank can use their cellphones to make payments out of their accounts. Their employers do direct deposits and the funds are completely digital. We think of this kind of thing happening in highly advanced economies, but it's some of the poorest ones where mobile technology is considered a basic living requirement rather than a luxury.

I remember talking to a guy from China some years ago who mentioned that PDAs were very popular in rural areas of his country. No one bothered with the PIM applications, but store owners who didn't own computers (or even have electrical power) were able to use these cheap, battery powered computers as cash registers and for keeping their books.

Might sound crazy to us, but a Treo 650 could make a pretty decent PC substitute for someone who lived or worked in parts of China where the only Internet connectivity was from a wireless operator.

David Beers
Pikesoft Mobile Computing
Software Everywhere blog
www.pikesoft.com/blog

RE: I wonder how many Chinese in China can afford this
AdamaDBrown @ 11/30/2005 4:53:52 PM # Q
ackmondual,

You're right, but it's a larger market than you might think. China has a very small middle class in terms of a percentage, but with such a large population, it's more people than you would expect. Then, there's also what David Beers mentioned, that high technology is often a worthwhile revolutionary investment for poor or rural environments. The virtual bank in Africa is an excellent example--they're actually closer to being paperless than we are, because they didn't go through the intervening stages of technology.

By the way, here in the US, 10% of the people still control over 50% of all the money. Just a note.

RE: I wonder how many Chinese in China can afford this
ChiA @ 12/1/2005 9:13:29 AM # Q
Ackmondual said: However, the rest of China is so piss broke that it's quite beyond analagous to the US at one time of "10% of the population owning 90% of the countries wealth"

According to the CIA World Fact Book the proportions of wealth distribution are nearly identical in both countries:

USA: Population 295,734,000
GDP $11.75 trillion
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 1.8%
highest 10%: 30.5% (1997)

China: Population 1,306,313,000
GDP $7.262 trillion
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.4%
highest 10%: 30.4% (1998)

So yes, in China there are far more heads (130,000,000) to sell a smartphone too a larger market than the US but that top ten percent still have less money to play with than the top ten percent (29,000,000) in the USA.

"What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog" - Dwight D. Eisenhower

RE: I wonder how many Chinese in China can afford this
ray00pal @ 12/1/2005 9:18:49 PM # Q
You guys are missing the point:
Treo 650 are most used for middle class working level people. The people with similar income to US Treo owners are business owners in China. Yes, those guys can buy one but being a boss, they got their own ugly secretary already. Treo is not necessary.

RE: I wonder how many Chinese in China can afford this
hbuchtel @ 12/2/2005 11:55:32 PM # Q
I live in Changsha, Hunan, certainly not one of the 'big-3' Chinese cities. Everybody I know (except for small children!) owns a cell phone. About a third of my adult friends have a smartphone, I've seen a lot of Motorolas, Samsungs, Nokias, Philips (?) as well as some Chinese brands that I'm not familiar with. I've never seen a Palm Smartphone though, and rarely see Palm pda's

A big advantage to the Treo is that you could write Chinese characters directly on the screen which is a lot faster then using pin-yin or the '5-stroke' method. However, computers being so common, I'm not sure how many people still remember how to write by hand! ;)

RE: I wonder how many Chinese in China can afford this
ackmondual @ 12/5/2005 5:10:19 PM # Q
In China, at least they should still know how to write Simplified Characters by hand.

"Do you know the difference between an error and a mistake? Anyone can make an error, but that error doesn't become a mistake until you refuse to correct it."
-Grand Admiral Thrawn

the secret to enjoying your job is to have a hobby that's even worse

My PDAs: Visor --> Visor Neo (blue) --> Zire 71 --> Tungsten T3 (with 4 of 6 screws still remaining) ~?~> zodiac 2?

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Welcome aboard, China

freakout @ 11/30/2005 7:12:29 PM # Q
Treo: one step closer to worldwide smartphone dominance. :D

Tim Carroll
Your friendly customer service robot
(and big Treo fan)
RE: Welcome aboard, China
fedatoc @ 12/1/2005 3:14:28 PM # Q
Just wondering: is it in the far east the only future for Palm OS?

RE: Welcome aboard, China
twizza @ 12/1/2005 5:05:23 PM # Q
The PalmOS is for all intents and purposes no more. PalmOS abilities on top of Linux is what is next. Refined interface and programs maybe being compatable notwithstanding, Garnet is the last marketed PalmOS.

mobileministrymagazine.com
antoinerjwright.com
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