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But Nokia said last month
it was pulling back from CDMA, a dominant wireless
standard in the United States, but less widely used
globally than GSM technology, raising doubts about
Brightpoint's prospects in India.
Brightpoint CEO Robert Laikin described Nokia's decision
as “the biggest nightmare” and said the company would
never again go into a market with an agreement with just
one supplier for a single technology.
“Clearly, with Nokia pulling out of CDMA, it's taken our
model and shaken it upside down,” Laikin said in an
interview, but he added: “We will not pull out of India.
We've committed to the market.” The company has
struggled since late April as its shares lost nearly 60
per cent of their value to trade at about $11.39 on
Monday due in part to the Nokia pullback, as well as
concerns about the loss of market share for
Brightpoint's US customers, such as Sprint Nextel Corp.
But Laikin said Nokia's exit may become a good
opportunity for Brightpoint, allowing it to work with
new suppliers of CDMA, as well as expand into selling
the more popular GSM phone standard in India.
"We've been approached by all the major manufacturers
since Nokia announced it was pulling out (of CDMA)," he
said. "I've no concern we'll be able to replace Nokia on
the CDMA side."
He said Brightpoint operates with less than 5 per cent
of its revenue from India, one of the fastest growing
cellphone markets in the world.
Laikin said the company still hopes to work with Nokia
on GSM phones in India, although some analysts are
skeptical they could reach an agreement.
“Nokia has been there with GSM for a long time and it
has preferred to do it directly,” said Jefferies & Co.
analyst Bill Choi. "In the near term, it's (the Nokia
pullback) a negative and we don't know how long it will
take to reposition the business in India." |
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