MEX

BenQ Mobile, the company formed from BenQ and Siemens became a legal entity at the beginning of this month. Both companies are similar in that they previously produced proprietary OS phones and a very few high end smartphones based on a 3rd party OS. In both cases their respective smartphones were announced very early and took an eternity to reach the market by which time competition made them look less desirable.

BenQ hedged its bets and produced both the Symbian UIQ based P30 and Windows Mobile based P50 Pocket PC Phone. Siemens produced the Symbian/Nokia Series 60 based SX1. It will take until Spring next year for all handsets to be combined under one brand. Will Windows Mobile and Symbian devices continue under the new brand or will there be some rationalisation?

I asked a Siemens representative this at a recent Orange conference. His response indicated that even he didn’t know. Things are very much undergoing change at the moment. 

The SX1 isn’t actively sold any more and is shown as discontinued on some online stores. It wasn’t ever followed by an updated model and I guess Siemens lost its way due the competition from Nokia’s own Series 60 phones. The P30 and P50 continue to be sold but not in large quantities compared to the likes of Nokia and Motorola. The new BenQ Mobile company is to retain the Siemens 8.4% state in Symbian. I would expect the new BenQ Mobile to continue to hedge its bets and produce UIQ and Windows Mobile devices.