Nokia, the world's largest manufacturer of mobile phones, has unveiled its long-awaited CDMA (code division multiple access) handsets for China Unicom's 2.5 generation network.
The phone, Nokia's first CDMA handset for the mainland market, will be available next month and sell for about 900 yuan (HK$843) each, China Unicom chairman Wang Jianzhou said.
The launch of the new CDMA handset marked the Finnish company's first step to compete with 18 other licensed CDMA phone makers in China, the world's largest mobile phone market.
China Unicom has ordered 200,000 units of Nokia's 2280 CDMA1x handsets, hoping the supply of low-cost phones will help boost the growth of its CDMA network.
The 900 yuan price for the handsets is likely to pressure other manufacturers into cutting prices.
Mr Wang said budget CDMA models with a 760 yuan price tag from two other domestic handset makers would be available shortly.