Wireless Developer Network - Daily News

[ View Today's WirelessDeveloper NewsWire ]
Today's News | WirelessDevNet DevZones | Yesterday's News | Submit News | News-"wireless" Top Stories! | Classifieds | Around-The-Web | Wireless DevZones!

chinadotcom Rolls Out Additional Wireless SMS Value Added Services in China Further synergies have been developed between Newpalm and chinadotcom's www.china.com portal HONG KONG, July 24 - chinadotcom corporation (Nasdaq: CHINA; website: www.corp.china.com), the leading integrated enterprise solutions company in Asia, today announced that its Mobile and Portal unit has rolled-out new SMS (short message service) products and services for both its SMS subscribers and Internet users in China. This is a further initiative demonstrating the synergies developed within Newpalm (China) Information Technology Co., Ltd ("Newpalm") and chinadotcom's portal network. Since the acquisition of Newpalm, the company has rolled-out new products and services on a subscription basis by leveraging the mobile capabilities of Newpalm and the content platform of the www.china.com portal. Recently launched products and services include: * China News SMS -- The free news content on the www.china.com portal is now re-packaged to SMS services on a subscription basis and is delivered to Newpalm subscribers through the SMS platform. Newpalm SMS users receive the four most important news headlines per day, from which users can choose to view the full text of any particular news item in which they are interested. The SMS news service is charged at 2.4 US cents (RMB 0.2) per message. * Business Elite: This newly launched business SMS product targets high- end users. Leveraging the business content of the www.china.com portal, Newpalm SMS users can receive the latest business related news including financial information on a timely basis during the day. The service is charged at around US$3.6 (RMB 30) per month. These two products have been well received by SMS users in China. For instance, the China News SMS has added additional 50,000 subscribers in June to the company's SMS subscriber base since its launch in May this year. This further demonstrates the synergies between Newpalm and the company's www.china.com portal. Further synergies are expected to take place by launching additional new services soon which include: * Military SMS -- Military news is considered to be one of the premium services to SMS users in China. Leveraging the popular military content of china.com portal, Newpalm SMS users can receive the full story of the most important military news of the day. The service is expected to be charged at around US$1.0 (RMB 8) per month. * X-City 2 -- an upgraded dating and chatting service created through the integration of Newpalm's X-City service and the www.china.com portal's Love Sky service. Subscribers can now access dating and chatting services on both Internet and SMS platforms. Paid users can build their personal profile such as specifying age, gender, hobbies, and can even upload a self-introductory video and/or audio clip onto the website. Existing X-City subscribers will be able to be upgraded to X-City 2 for around US$1.0 (RMB 8) on a monthly basis, compared to the original price of US$0.6 (RMB 5). All these newly launched services can be subscribed for through the www.china.com portal network as well as Newpalm's SMS platform. "We are pleased to see further progress on synergies between Newpalm and the www.china.com portal taking place," said Daniel Widdicombe, Chief Financial Officer of chinadotcom corporation. "Our SMS business is still in its early days as the acquisition of Newpalm was only completed in April this year, and its financial contribution will be consolidated into the chinadotcom group's financial results for Q2 2003. With the established payment platform that Newpalm is using, we expect that this will allow us to monetize our portal by jointly launching new value added products and services to its users. The effect of these synergies between Newpalm and our www.china.com portal on our business as a whole will remain small for the foreseeable future. Overall, the recent development of Newpalm and its joint activities with the www.china.com portal demonstrate that our SMS business is on the right track and the synergies developed between Newpalm and www.china.com should broaden the service products of both entities." Newpalm currently has direct connectivity and service agreements signed with local mobile network operators in 26 provinces. Direct connectivity with provincial network mobile operators facilitates Newpalm's marketing and promotion activities at the provincial level, resulting in a better quality of service, a higher sign-up rate for subscribers and new services and a higher level of completion of SMS messages sent. In May this year, Newpalm launched a customized weather news service which is charged at 2.4 US cents (RMB 0.2) per message on a subscription or demand basis. About chinadotcom corporation chinadotcom corporation (Nasdaq: CHINA; Website: www.corp.china.com) is a leading integrated enterprise solutions and software company offering technology, marketing, mobile and media services for companies throughout Greater China and the Asia-Pacific region, the US and the UK. With operations in 10 markets, with over 1,000 employees -- the companies under the chinadotcom group have extensive experience in several industry groups including finance, travel and manufacturing, and in key business areas, including e-business strategy, packaged software implementation and development, precision marketing and supply chain management. chinadotcom leverages this expertise with alliances and partnerships to help drive innovative client solutions.