PlayFon and Pantech Announce All-round Partnership
Skip contentOctober 26, 2005, Moscow: PlayFon, a leading international provider of wireless entertainment, and Pantech, one of the top vendors of cellular phones, signed the all-round partnership agreement.
The projects that the companies are set to work on within next two years are based on the strategic partnership between PlayFon and Pantech. This partnership traces back to 2004, when Pantech opened the Russian office and introduced new GSM phones in the local market. The new round of partnership implies several joint projects including the development of the Russian-language WAP-portal wap.pantech.ru and the entertainment section for www.pantech.ru. The owners of Pantech handsets will be able to download the best Java-games, polyphonic ringtones, logos, wallpapers, themes, jokes and voice ringtones. PlayFon assumes regular updating of its product lineup and undertakes the compatibility of its content with Pantech handsets.
Limited selection of wireless content is one of the main hindrances to promotion of new handset models, especially for the vendors that are ahead of the market and count on new technologies. PlayFon’s strong partner relations with the leading developers and copyright holders enable the provider to warrant maximum compatibility of its content with various handsets. The companies plan to combine their efforts in ensuring 100% compatibility of PlayFon’s products with Pantech and promoting content as an integral part of modern mobile communication.
“Our products combine modern technologies with interesting and creative design. We hope that the mutually beneficial cooperation with PlayFon will help our users to appreciate multimedia features of our handsets. We believe that our strong relations with PlayFon will improve Pantech brand awareness and consolidate our positions in the Russian market” the head of Pantech Russian office Mr. Sangmin Jung said.
Currently, Pantech is one of the largest GSM and CDMA cell-phone manufacturers in South Korea. The company is second in South Korea in terms of sales volume and occupies the seventh position in the world market of cell-phones. Fourteen percent of those Russian subscribers who spend more than $50 a month for mobile communications prefer Pantech handsets (according to J’son & Partners report, April, 2005).
“We are very pleased with broadening our partnership with Pantech. Our customers who use the cell-phones from this manufacturer will have an additional, user friendly medium to access the content compatible with these handsets. The widest collection of mobile entertainment allows us to offer Pantech handset owners the best content from leading international developers” PlayFon Vice-President Vladimir Borodin said.
PlayFon hopes to expand the cooperation with Pantech to Asia Pacific, where the vendor traditionally holds very strong positions. Earlier this year PlayFon entered the Asian market and opened the regional office in Hong Kong.
About Pantech:
Pantech Co., Ltd with its affiliate Pantech&Curitel Communications, Inc., is one of the world’s leading handset providers. Both affiliates are collectively better known as the ‘Pantech Group’. Pantech Co., Ltd. was set up in 1991 as a pager manufacturer within a rapidly expanding market. In August 1997, Pantech was listed on the Korea Stock Exchange and moved into the development and production of CDMA and GSM handsets. Pantech&Curitel, which is also publicly traded on the Korea Stock Exchange, has been a pioneer in analog, CDMA, and GSM/GPRS products, since the 1980s.
Pantech, along with its affiliates, has been responsible for a number of innovative breakthroughs in the mobile technology sector, including the introduction of the world’s first fingerprint recognition camera phone in 2004, as well as an award winning camcorder and MP3 phone. Staffed with more than 3,500 employees and 15 regional sales offices worldwide, the Pantech group is generating economies of scale with annual shipments of more than 20 million units, which help to achieve cost competitiveness by collectively procuring mobile phone components. The company has been operating in Russia since January 2004. For additional information visit the web-sites www.pantech.com and www.pantech.ru.
About PlayFon:
PlayFon, an international provider of wireless entertainment offers a wide range of services in Russia, UK, Sweden and Ukraine. PlayFon is a leader of Russian mobile game market. The company is listed among top10 Russian content-providers. PlayFon was first to introduce Java and mophun games, video and ringtones in MP3 format in the Russian market of mobile content.
For additional information, please call +7 (095) 783-0525 or visit us at http://corp.playfon.com.
