German vendor Siemens AG said it plans to invest $30 million in its telecom factory in Shanghai, China, as part of a strategy to enhance its third-generation technology standing in the Chinese market. The step also indicates renewed interest in this market as the SARS epidemic tails off the radar screen and analysts anticipate 3G licensing details could be announced before year-end.
This investment underscores the significance of China in Siemens’ business as the factory complements its other facility located in Durach, Germany.
The investment is targeted at Siemens’ W-CDMA business, which is fast growing with several companies devoting enormous investments on the protocol.
Siemens also announced two contracts worth $145 million to supply infrastructure equipment, especially base stations, for current-generation networks. The operators of the networks were not named.
In spite of its W-CDMA investments, the company is also focused on TD-SCDMA technology, for which Siemens has devoted enormous resources for research and development. The country’s two main carriers, China Mobile and China Unicom, are involved in the Chinese homegrown technology in a market with a subscriber base of 234.5 million at the end of June.
