ViewSonic plans to make and sell 3G smartphones in China but said very little else.
The Walnut, California-based display giant did say the devices will initially be launched in China, followed by Europe and the Americas, but would not provide information about a time frame, pricing or network carrier. One wonders why it bothered with a press announcement.
ViewSonic said that given its history in display technology (it makes a lot of those illuminated advertising hoardings that make the centers of city so unattractive at night plus a range of color televisions in different sizes) it could be argued it makes sense for the company to use its knowledge in screen display technology on mobile phones.
The company said in a statement that ‘consumers are demanding larger screens, greater color saturation and contrast to take advantage of new services such as mobile Internet, television and video applications, gaming and eBooks. ViewSonic is well positioned to take advantage of the rapidly expanding 3G smartphone market.’
Channel Web said that ViewSonic cited a March 2009 report from research firm iSuppli, which forecasts that global smartphone unit shipments for 2009 will climb 11.1% to 192.3 million, up from 173.6 million in 2008.