UltraLowEnd
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CDMA phones to get ultra cheap, too
Anyone else notice that most of the fanfare surrounding the concept of the almost-free unsubsidized handset has been largely restricted to the GSM camp? Sure, we have occasional CDMA examples like Kyocera's K122 and K132 -- but with all due respect to Kyocera, cooler looking GSM goodies like the MOTOFONE have been generating just a bit more buzz. No worries, though; a handful of scrappy Korean startups are looking to correct the imbalance, committing to deliver $30 handsets utilizing CDMA2000 1x radios (no EV-DO, we're guessing) to India starting in December of this year with other Southeast Asian countries hopping on the bandwagon in '07. According to Rose Telecom, one of the startups involved in the initiative, the phones should take another dive to the $20 mark in 2008. We can almost sense American prepaid MVNOs expressing interest already.Update: A resourceful reader has pointed out that Motorola's also offering a CDMA variant of the MOTOFONE, which clearly raises the bar for style in the CDMA emerging markets segment. The Korean folks still look to have a slight edge on pricing here -- but with Motorola having suggested that we'll be seeing $15 handsets by '08, they may not for long. [Thanks, Rich]
Kyocera K122 and K132 bring ultra low end to CDMA
Handset announcements from the floor of this fall's CTIA have come surprisingly few and far between, but Kyocera took the opportunity to show off two new entry-level handsets targeted primarily at international CDMA markets. The K132 clamshell is the "premium" device of the two -- and we use that term very loosely here -- featuring a color display, speakerphone, support for the 800 and 1900MHz bands, and a "soft touch" finish. The bare bones K122 strips away virtually every nonessential feature, leaving a basic, single-band candybar with a grayscale display. In this whole emerging markets game, we'd take a MOTOFONE any day over the K122, though we suspect the latter will find its way into consumer's hands sooner; expect both the K122 and its K132 sibling to drop before winter sets in.
