Wireless technology, from Wi-Fi to Bluetooth to GSM and CDMA, served a major role during the Comdex show, with attendees getting a peek at some of the latest initiatives in the industry.
But while product releases and new announcements made up the majority of news headlines, a major subject with conference goers was the show’s apparent low turnout. Some reports pegged crowd numbers around 120,000, down from the conference’s heydays of 200,000, but others, including cab drivers and casino workers, thought turnout could be even lower-more like 70,000. Comdex has not yet released official attendance numbers.
Aside from the show’s debated overall success, many on hand were witness to a range of new wireless and mobile products.
Samsung Electronics sought to outline its vision for the U.S. wireless market in conjunction with the Las Vegas show, boasting of its worldwide mobile-phone sales of 11.7 million units in the third quarter and promising to sell more than 9 million CDMA and GSM mobile phones in the United States this year.
At the show, Samsung showed its lineup of color-screen wireless devices, including the GPRS-capable SGH-S105 and the SGH-V205, which includes a built-in CCD camera. The SGH-V205 will be Samsung’s first camera phone for the U.S. market, and should be available before the end of the year. The manufacturer also displayed the SPH-A500 and SPH-N400 with advanced displays, the CDMA 1xRTT-capable SPH-i330 and the Pocket PC-based SPH-i700.
Samsung “has emerged as one of the powers in a variety of areas,” said Rob Enderle, a research fellow at Giga Information Group.
Also on the camera-phone front, Sprint PCS said it began selling Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd.’s 5300 handset, a phone introduced last month that is the first U.S. handset with an integrated camera. Sprint also unveiled Sierra Wireless Inc.’s AirCard 550 and Growell Telecom Co. Ltd.’s CF2031, the carrier’s first 1x-certified Compact Flash card product.
“It’s not hard to picture a world where these (camera) phones become important if not critical,” Enderle said.
For its part, Nokia Corp. introduced its new CDMA 3585i phone, which features GPS capability and supports CDMA 1x networks. The phone uses Nokia’s cdma2000 1x chipset. The company expects it to ship in the first quarter of next year.
Advanced devices like those from Nokia and Samsung will create a major opportunity, according to a new study from Analysys. Sales of advanced wireless devices will reach 278 million by 2007 in Western Europe alone, the firm predicts, helping mobile-data revenues grow from 14 percent to 33 percent of total wireless revenues by 2007.
“With the introduction of new handsets like the Nokia 7650, the Sony Ericsson T68i and the Orange SPV (Sound Picture Video), we are finally seeing the kinds of devices that really enhance the desirability of non-voice services,” said Julie Robson, the report’s author.
Indeed, Nokia’s chief executive predicted the mobile-phone market will continue to grow during the coming years as new markets like Russia and China continue to develop and newer color-screen devices become available in Europe. Nokia’s Jorma Ollila told the Financial Times that the handset market should grow by 10 to 15 percent per year.
Interoperability problems
Despite some rosy outlooks for the mobile-phone market, many analysts have cautioned that interoperability issues must be addressed before significant successes can occur. Juniper Research recently predicted the market for MMS services has the potential to reach $8.3 billion in revenues by 2004, but only if wireless players enact interoperability and roaming services, as well as introduce additional devices. Along these lines, a variety of wireless players gathered at Comdex to demonstrate interoperable multimedia messaging services. Handset companies Matsushita (Panasonic), Microsoft Corp., Motorola Inc., Nokia, Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications L.P. and Teleca and server-side companies Comverse Technology Inc., L.M. Ericsson, Logica plc, Nokia, Openwave Systems Inc. and Tecnomen participated in the demonstration.
And for its part, Nokia showed off MMS interoperability exchanges between CDMA and GSM networks-a nod to the complexities of the U.S. market.
Aside from mobile phones, news on the personal digital assistant front also poured in. Dell Computer Corp. made its long-awaited entry into the PDA market with its Axim X5, which works on Microsoft’s Pocket PC software. It will sell for between $200 and $300. The device does not have a built-in wireless connection but will be able to support wireless modems.
“The Dell device is certainly the most interesting because of the price points,” Enderle said, adding that $200 and under has always been the magic selling price for consumer electronics.
Separately, as expected Hewlett-Packard Co. released a new iPAQ PDA that includes integrated support for Bluetooth wireless connections and Wi-Fi networks.
Finally, Microsoft made sure its voice was heard during the convention, with company head Bill Gates outlining Microsoft’s vision for a range of new computing devices. Along with its previously discussed Tablet PCs running on Wi-Fi networks, Gates also showed off wireless Smart Displays, which are similar to Tablet PCs but aimed at consumers. The company also hinted at a new forthcoming device category: smart personal objects. Gates explained that the devices would include everyday objects like alarm clocks, but would feature advanced services like updated weather and traffic information.
