SEOUL, February 13th, 2006: Pantech Group – the number two mobile company in South Korea – is set to highlight its plans to make waves in Europe and globally in 2006 with the demonstration of a wide range of original new handsets, featuring pioneering yet user friendly applications, at the 3GSM World Congress 2006 in Barcelona, Spain.
At the 3GSM event, which will be attended by representatives of the leading organizations in the global mobile communications industry, Pantech plans to showcase no fewer than 30 of its most advanced phones, as part of its effort to underline its commitment to the European market and the ongoing development and regeneration of its product line up.
Among the models to be demonstrated is the PU-5000 UMTS handset. The PU-5000 is a slider phone featuring video telephony, MP3 player and dual cameras with 1.3 mega pixel resolution and VGA functionality. Another phone that will be on show is the PG-8000, designed with a sophisticated digital camera (‘dica’) look, which features a 2 mega pixel camera and a wide and horizontal LCD display, as well as WAP and JAVA systems.
The 30 models demonstrated by Pantech will comprise 13 GSM and 12 CDMA handsets, as well as five UMTS phones. The GSM range on show includes the new ‘Slim-Series’ handsets, while the CDMA set includes the IM-U110 with 1GB of flash memory capacity, the IM-U100 with a 2.6 inch wide LCD screen and the PT-K1800 and PT-L1800 terrestrial DMB phones. Also on display is the A1405PT, the first Korean phone introduced in Japan.
Pantech has invested around US$200 million in expanding its global network over the last two years, with this process including the opening of new offices in the Netherlands and the UK. The company aims to capitalize on expected increases in demand in Europe and worldwide for mobile phones and related services, as part of its plans to supply 22-23 million handsets in overseas markets this year, with projected export revenues of up to US$3 billion.
A new report from UK market researchers Portio Research predicts that 50 per cent of the world’s population will be using a mobile phone by the end of 2009. The report ‘Worldwide Mobile Market Forecasts 2006-2011’ also indicates that Western Europe will see more than 50 per cent subscriber penetration for 3G services by 2011.
About Pantech:
Pantech, through its affiliates – Pantech Co., Ltd., Pantech&Curitel Communications, Inc. and Pantech C&I Inc – is ranked second in the South Korean domestic market and marked as the seventh largest mobile handset manufacturer in the world. Pantech has been responsible for a number of breakthrough innovations in the mobile technology sector, including the introduction in 2004 of the world’s first fingerprint recognition camera phone, as well as award winning camcorder and MP3 phones. In May 2005, Pantech affiliate Pantech&Curitel Communications, Inc. announced the acquisition of SK Teletech Co., the handset-manufacturing arm of SK Telecom, number one mobile network operator in Korea. Under the terms of the acquisition agreement, Pantech and SK Telecom plan to collaborate in joint research and development initiatives and will work together in the global expansion of their respective businesses into overseas markets, The SKY brand, marketed by SK Teletech, is the most popular premium handset brand in Korea. In August 2005, to facilitate the goal of Pantech becoming one of the world’s top five mobile handset brands, Pantech Co. and SK Teletech were merged under the Pantech organization. Pantech collectively has about 5,000 employees and a total of 20 regional sales offices worldwide. For more information on Pantech, please visit www.pantech.com or www.curitel.com/english
