AO PAULO, Brazil-Samsung in mid-March opened its first manufacturing operations for cellular
handsets outside of South Korea. The company began manufacturing a Code Division Multiple Access handset for the
Brazil market in Manaus, in the northern state of Amazonas, where Samsung has manufactured other consumer
products such as TVs and VCRs since 1995.
Samsung will make the SCH-411 CDMA handset, which has voice
recognition and will retail for about $555. In the future, the company also may manufacture the SCH-811 CDMA
handset at the factory. The SCH-811 is a higher-end model with a personal organizer. The facility has the capacity to
put out 400,000 handsets per year, according to a Samsung spokeswoman.
Doo Young Yoo, president of Samsung
Eletronica da Amazonia Ltda., said the initial production units likely will go to Telefonica, which is the operating
partner in Tele Sudeste Celular, a CDMA operator. Its other CDMA handset customers are Telesp Celular
Participacoes S.A. and Global Telecom S.A., said Yoo.
Samsung also eventually may manufacture its CDMA-based
wireless local loop system, currently being tested in China, at the Manaus factory. It also intends to export equipment
made there to the other Mercosur countries and the rest of South America, according to Yoo.
WLL is not currently
used in Brazil, but represents a major part of its future. The three mirror companies being set up to compete with the
privatized Telebras companies likely will use WLL as a major part of their network buildout plans. The Bell Canada-
led company, which has received the only local mirror license issued so far in the northeast region of Brazil, has said it
intends to use equipment from Qualcomm Inc. and Nortel Networks. The other two local mirror licenses are expected
to be issued in April, following a delay because of the economic situation in Brazil.
“We’re going to diversify
to serve our different models,” said Samsung’s Yoo. “We have the intention to produce WLL (equipment) if
there is market demand.”
Yoo cited one of the reasons for starting handset production in Brazil is the local
production requirements from the Brazilian government, which offers tax incentives for those manufacturing locally
rather than importing product.
Samsung communications products manufacturing facilities in the United States and
Europe are a possibility in the future, said Yoo.
