Bird to foray into software development

Ningbo Bird Sales Co Ltd, the Indian subsidiary of the US $3 billion mobile communication equipment major Ningbo Bird Company Ltd, is holding talks with other Indian companies for developing software meant for mobile technology.

"We are holding talks with some Indian companies for foraying into software development for mobile handsets, including developing local languages for mobile sets. We hope to commence our venture this year either through a joint venture or outsourcing the same," Rajesh Sharma, director, sales said.

The company, world's seventh largest mobile handsets manufacturer, is also exploring the possibility of setting up a manufacturing unit in India.

"We are also interested in setting up a manufacturing facility in India for manufacturing mobile handsets for Indian companies. We are already holding talks with some Indian companies for producing mobile handsets under their brands," Sharma said.

Aiming to garner a 5 per cent market share of mobile handsets' market in the country, Ningbo Bird is launching its mobile sets in a phased manner in the country.

"Initially, we had maintained our focus on the northern region including Punjab, Delhi and UP for selling our mobile sets and within three months we would move to other markets of India also. We had targeted to capture 5 per cent market share in the expected 30 million mobile handsets market in the country by the end of December," Sharma added.

The company would also introduce its CDMA mobile sets in the next two months in Indian market, said Sharma.