Handset maker confirms lack of interest in CDMA services

Haier Group, one of China's largest CDMA (code division multiple access) handset manufacturers, has confirmed market concerns over a lack of demand for CDMA services, saying it is not receiving orders.

Executive vice-chairwoman Yang Mianmian said: 'There are no orders for CDMA handsets. I believe China Unicom does not have orders as well.'

Haier, one of 19 licensed manufacturers, has an annual production capacity of five million CDMA handsets. But it had produced only 'a few hundred' for China Unicom to test its network, Ms Yang said.

'If we have no orders, we won't produce them,' Ms Yang said.

As a commercial enterprise, the company would not make a product that did not have a market, she said.

China Unicom's CDMA service was facing weak demand because those who could afford a mobile phone in China already had GSM (global system for mobile communications) handsets.

'In China, most people haven't got to that level to buy two handsets,' she said.