Samsung explores low-cost colour phone to take on Nokia

Seoul, January 7: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said on Monday it is considering a low-cost mobile phone worth $40-50 that comes with colour features to fight bigger rival Nokia.

Samsung, the world's No. 2 mobile phone maker in the third quarter of 2007, gained market share last year by offering more medium- and low-cost phones, moving away from its previous focus on premium models.

"We are considering a $40-50 phone, if such a model can be cost-competitive," said a Samsung spokesman. "It targets Nokia in the emerging markets."

Samsung hopes to add the colour feature on the proposed model but was still studying the project's feasibility, he added. "It's going to take some time to decide."

The average selling price of Samsung's mobile phones stood at $151 in the third quarter, compared with the 2006 average of $176. Its market share is estimated at 14 percent or higher in 2007, up from 11.4 per cent in 2006.

Samsung aims to sell 200 million mobile phones in 2008, compared with about 160 million in 2007, a company executive said in November.

As growth in the global handset industry slows, it will be crucial for Samsung to expand its presence in the largely untapped emerging markets.

Nokia, which has larger economies of scale and well-established distribution channels, enjoyed a lead in emerging markets such as India.

In advanced markets such as the United States, mobile phone makers face competition from the iPhone, Apple Inc's first phone.

Samsung seeks to take up to 25 per cent of the global mobile phone market revenue by 2010, compared with about 15 perc ent seen for 2007, Samsung said in late November.

Shares in Samsung fell 3.53 per cent to 520,000 won by 0224 GMT, compared to the wider market's 2 per cent drop.

Nintendo, Nokia and Motorola flunk the Green test

Nintendo, Nokia and Motorola have flunked a 'toxic test' conducted by the quarterly Guide to Greener Electronics.

The latest edition of the mag assessed for the first time TVs and the rapidly growing games consoles market and even the mobile market for their environmental credentials.

While Nintendo completely failed to show any environmental credentials, Microsoft and Philips did a little better.

The Greener Electronics Guide is a way of getting the electronics industry to face up to the problem of e-waste with an aim to make manufacturers get rid of harmful chemicals in their products.

The purpose of this guide is to see an end to the stories of unprotected child labourers scavenging mountains of cast-off gadgets created by society's gizmo-loving ways.

The guide ranked companies according to their policies and practices on toxic chemicals and takeback. Along with mobile phone and personal computer companies, the biggest makers of TVs and games consoles were also added.

Old TVs are a large part of e-waste and the games console market is one of the fastest growing in consumer electronics.

Nintendo has the dubious honour of being the first company to score 0/10 in the guide. Microsoft did little better, scoring only 2.7. Philips is the lowest TV-maker scoring only 2.

The companies are new to the Guide and thus have plenty of room for improvement.

Sony Ericsson is heading the ranking, and has taken over number one spot from Nokia while Samsung and Sony have zoomed to now occupy second and third positions.

Nokia and Motorola have each had a penalty point deducted after it was found that their claims of global takeback were not being matched by actual practice.

The implementation of product takeback programmes in six countries where Motorola, Nokia and Sony Ericsson claim, on their websites, to operate product takeback programmes, was tested.

Nokia representatives in the Philippines, Thailand, Argentina, Russia and India were not informed about their companies' own programmes and in many cases provided misleading information.

Motorola staff in the Philippines, Thailand and India were unable to direct customers to collection points in their respective countries.

Therefore, Nokia falls from top position to ninth and Motorola drops from ninth position to fourteenth.

"Companies shouldn't be under any illusions that we won't check up on their claims of green greatness," commented Iza Kruszewska, toxics campaigner at Greenpeace International. Companies making the most progress with new products without the worst toxic chemicals are now ranking higher than companies who have only committed to remove them in the future.

Toshiba has laptops free of toxic chemicals like vinyl plastic (PVC) and has reduced the use of brominated flame retardants (BFRs).

Apple's score improves slightly due to new iMacs reducing the use of PVC and BFRs.

All new mobiles from Sony Ericsson and Nokia have been free of PVC since the end of 2006. The guide focuses on toxic chemicals and takeback policy because of the rapid growth in quantities of toxic e-waste being dumped in developing countries like China and India.

However, Nintendo's Wii console appears to be more energy efficient compared to the Microsoft Xbox and Sony Playstation, energy use is not yet covered in the ranking.

Many companies have made big strides to improve their products and recycling schemes since the introduction of the guide.

But no company has so far succeeded in offering an entire range of products free of the worst toxic chemicals or a comprehensive, free, global takeback scheme to ensure responsible recycling.

Nokia Siemens sees profit from greener networks

Helsinki, November 20: Nokia Siemens Networks aims to cut the energy consumption of some of its mobile base stations by up to 40 percent by 2010 in a move that should also boost profits, the telecoms network group said Tuesday.

With new technology and software, fewer base stations would also be needed for the most power-hungry part of a mobile telecom network, it added.

By the year 2010, it said it would reduce energy consumption of its GSM and WCDMA base stations to 650 watts and 300 watts respectively, from the current levels of 800 watts and 500 watts.

"We have set ambitious goals that are reasonable both environmentally but also business-wise as energy is becoming more expensive," Nokia Siemens' head of environmentally sustainable business, Anne Larilahti, told Reuters in an interview.

Part of a base station can be shut down during times of low traffic which reduces the need for air conditioning on sites, the company added.

Finnish handset maker Nokia and German conglomerate Siemens decided to combine their telecoms network equipment businesses last year to gain scale against rivals such as Ericsson and Huawei.

"There is also the chance to make a profit," Larilahti said adding that it was possible to have a "net positive" impact with greener products.

"Only then, we can do this in the long term and not settle for short-term charity projects."

Larilahti said Nokia Siemens saw itself the top player in energy efficiency with its GSM base stations consuming 25 percent less energy compared with the next best competitor.