July 3, 2005
Philips Develops Platform for $20 Cell Phones
Philips is working on an ultra low-cost mobile phones to bring the benefits of the technology to an untapped global customer base of 3.3 billion people. The first product from the project will be a sub-$5 system solution – an integrated hardware and software platform constituting all the electronics needed in a mobile phone - that will drive handset costs below $20, reveals PC World.
The initiative will seek to drive down total handset costs for this market segment below $15 by 2008 (while the lowest cost mobile phones currently on the market are just below $40).
"Right now, 77 percent of the world's population lives within range of a mobile phone network, but only 25 percent of the world's population subscribes to a mobile phone service. All around the world operators have the infrastructure in place for mobile services, but the relatively high cost of mobile phones is holding back potential subscribers," said Thierry Laurent, from Philips Semiconductors.
The Nexperia Cellular System Solution 5130 will be available in Q4 2005 and will be capable of making calls and sending SMS. It will have a monochrome screen and be able to play polyphonic ring tones.
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