Nokia-Siemens Merger

Nokia and Siemens have announced their intention to merge their respective mobile network equipment businesses into a new joint venture which will form the entity Nokia Siemens Networks. The two companies intend to be the global leader in providing fixed and mobile network infrastructure.

The combined company is positioned to lead the development and implementation of revenue-generating and cost-saving products and services via its scale and global reach. Nokia Siemens Networks will have one of the world’s best research and development teams with the ability to invest in next generation fixed and mobile product platforms and services. The new company will have a world-class fixed-mobile convergence capability, a complementary global base of customers, a deep presence in both developed and emerging markets, and one of the industry’s largest and most experienced service organizations.

We recall that Siemens has recently sold its mobile handset division to Taiwanese BenQ (formerly Acer). With the Nokia-Siemens joint venture looming in the horizon, I think Siemens is up for sharing pole position in the fierce competition among network equipment suppliers, of which Ericsson, Alcatel, Lucent, and other providers are part of.

As usual, joint ventures and mergers are great at streamlining product and process flows, and allowing for economies of scale for both parties. I would tend to think, though, that Nokia and Siemens should allow for a couple of years into the merger to reap the full efficiency benefits. As for us consumers, I don’t think we’ll see any changes anytime soon, especially since this doesn’t involve the usual merger for mass-market produts, but that for high-end network equipment. That is unless Siemens and Nokia get to develop and introduce uber-cool technology that will surpass current 3G standards soon.

June 19th, 2006 Posted by J. Angelo Racoma in News, Nokia, Siemens at 12:25 pm Comment Now! »

Siemens SL75 Review

Siemens SL75Pocket-lint looks at the SL75 from Siemens and gives it a decent review.

After struggling with a gaggle of Paul McCartney references we’ve plumped with the never ageing-one’s Back To The Egg. That’s exactly what the revamped Siemens/Benq brand has done, returning to the former highlight of its range the delectably delicious egg-shaped SL55 for its spanky new SL75. Due to our natural discretion we will try to avoid mentioning the disappointingly overweight SL65.

In the end the phone manages a rating of eight out of a possible ten in their review scale, putting it a fair bit above average. The most interesting thing in the review is one of the reasons the phone was not perfect: it’s too small for big hands.

March 20th, 2006 Posted by David in Reviews, Siemens at 11:07 am Comment Now! »

BenQ-Siemens Launch Three New Handsets

BenQ-Siemens EF81Pocket-Lint is covering BenQ’s new entries into the cell phone world with their launch of three new handsets undere the BenQ-Siemens brand name.

The company, which officially launched in October last year, launched three new handsets; the EF81, the S68 and S88.

Clemens Joos, CEO BenQ, outlined the company’s aggressive plan to break into the competitive mobile market promising 23-30 new phones this year alone.

A third of all phones launched in 2006 would include 3G connectivity. He also announced that three out of four would include a music player or FM radio and every second phone would offer a 1.3 megapixel camera, signaling a strong focus in multimedia performance.

The CEO when questioned by Pocket-lint.co.uk at the conference said the dramatic change of design over previous Siemens models was because “the design was not working”.

The phones look like they are trying to capitalize on the brand recognition of other cell phones; infact, one of the designs looks almost exactly like the Motorola Razr V3 line of phones, and while sticking the BenQ name on the phone might help or hinder the brand, it should be interesting to see what saturating the market with almost thirty new phones will do for the company.

January 18th, 2006 Posted by David in News, Siemens at 12:05 pm Comment Now! »

BenQ to Remove Siemens Logo

It looks like BenQ, an increasingly well-known brand name in electronics is going to be removing the Siemens logo from cell phones and placing its own brand on them.

BenQ acquired Siemens’ loss-making mobile phone handsets division in June and, as part of the deal, bought the right to use the Siemens logo on the phones for a period of five years.

The change from the Siemens logo to their own logo will most likely occur in 2007. Though in countries where BenQ is not as reconizeable, they will continue to use the Siemens name until sometime in 2008.

September 23rd, 2005 Posted by David in News, Siemens at 12:49 pm Comment Now! »

Siemens Add a Female Touch to the CL65 Mobile Phone

Siemens CL65The lucky women in the UK will be able to get a special edition phone from Siemens designed by to two female British designers, Nargess Gharani and Vanya Strok. I would love to be able to get my girlfriend a cell phone that looks like this one.

The pair have also designed a charm to dangle from the phone made from real silver and inset with a striking pink Swarovski crystal. The charms will only be available to buy in very limited edition, with all proceeds donated to Breast Cancer Care.

The Siemens CL75 Poppy is a special edition phone, available exclusively in the UK. Created by an all-female team. Following sterotypes to the limited the team has even included a compact mirror in the design so girls can do their makeup on the move.

The CL75 Poppy will be available in the UK from October 2005

Thanks to Pocket-Lint for the information.

September 20th, 2005 Posted by David in Siemens at 7:32 am 2 Comments »

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