(SinoCast via NewsEdge) NEC will withdraw from the mobile phone market in China due to losses it incurred in the business.
Japan-based NEC is the latest foreign firm to withdraw from the market following other vendors such as Toshiba.
NEC said it has stopped manufacturing at its mobile phone plant in Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province, and it won't launch new models in the Chinese mainland, said Cai Li, a spokesperson of NEC China.
'We have to reorganize the global handset business and focus on 3G phone manufacturing and sales,' Cai said.
NEC, which is strong in 3G products, is projecting 48 billion yen ($415 million) in losses this year in its mobile and personal solutions business, more than three times the previous estimate, because of slowing handset sales and higher costs for getting rid of inventories.
'It's a natural strategic withdrawal for NEC as its handset business doesn't perform well in the Chinese market,' said Li Xuefang, an analyst at Beijing-based CCID Consulting, a research firm under the Ministry of Information Industry.
Before NEC's withdraw, other Japan-branded mobile phone makers, including Panasonic, Toshiba and Mitsubishi, have already withdrawn from China, where Nokia and Motorola dominates the market.
NEC has a 3G base station manufacturing facility in Tianjin focusing on exports.
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