ALKHOBAR, 11 November 2003 — Carrier Devices has some of the hottest products in the Saudi market but few local consumers know much about this company, behind such trendy names as Qtek and i-mate. Founded in 2001, Carrier Devices has become one of the world’s leading specialists in collaborative design and development and the integration of innovative, fully certified, wireless hand held devices and accessible services for the global mobile market. In June 2003, they completed a strategic relocation of their headquarters from Europe to Dubai Internet City, as part of their wider strategy to become the primary supplier of innovative wireless handheld devices for the Middle East.
Jim Morrison, CEO, Carrier Devices Middle East, explained that in his former position on BT’s strategy team, the Middle East and Africa were identified as major growth areas. Building on that information, setting up Carrier Devices in Dubai made sense.
“Everybody was shocked when we moved our headquarters here,” said Morrison. “But frankly the move was very smooth and it’s been good for us. At the time we made the decision to come over that’s when everyone thought the Americans were going to invade and there was all that war talk. Honestly, Dubai is safer than anywhere else. It was quite safe even during the Iraq War. That’s not the perception outside the Middle East though. I’ve had to do a lot of explaining about how comfortable it is to live here, but it’s a great ice breaker at the start of a conversation.”
Morrison went on to say that the company is on target, with the team settled into the new headquarters. Carrier Devices has an expanding product range, which in addition to the Qtek now includes the i-mate Smartphone and the just released i-mate Windows Mobile Pocket PC, Phone Edition. This latest product is a unique marriage of Windows Mobile Pocket PC and mobile telephone, based on Microsoft Pocket PC 2003 Software. It has both GSM and GPRS radio technology, provides 128MB RAM and 64MB ROM and is Bluetooth 1.1 compliant. Operating at 900, 1800 and 1900MHz for global use, it also incorporates a SDIO/MMC Memory Expansion and a SIM card slot. Additional features are a 3.5-inch, 64k Color Transflective LCD, a built in camera and integrated antenna.
The new device offers a full Microsoft suite of applications such as e-mail, Internet, MP3 player, Instant Messenger and much more. Its blending of voice and data maximizes usability allowing the display and organization of information and enabling users to stay in-touch anywhere.
“We expect the just released i-mate Windows Mobile Pocket PC, Phone Edition to be hugely popular in Saudi Arabia because of the large youth market,” said Morrison. “Our other devices are already doing very well in Saudi Arabia and the new i-mate has excellent entertainment functionality so it should have appeal across several market segments. I must point out though that to bring the i-mate Pocket PC into the Kingdom we’ve had to remove the built-in camera. Elsewhere the camera is a standard feature.” Hisham Al-Gurg, CEO, i-mate, spoke with a great deal of satisfaction about the Arabic features of the new Pocket PC.
“We feel that this value added service will enhance the product’s marketability in this region and give it a distinctive, user friendly Middle Eastern flair,” he commented. “Arabic is useable in many applications, including SMS, Hijri Calendar and notes, an Arabic-English, English-Arabic dictionary and a comprehensive Prayer Times application with on-screen reminders.” Morrison picked up the discussion. “The i-mate is fully Arabized through IMAGiNet in Egypt,” he explained.
“This was a business decision for us. The majority of the market in the Middle East is Arabic so if you want to sell, you do Arabic. One of the things I said I wanted to do when I came here was to make at least 50 percent of the company local. We’ve not achieved that yet, but probably 30 percent of our staff are local and we are constantly recruiting. That way we get the right local feel for our products. I want to mention that we already have audible Qur’an on the i-mate Pocket PC and fairly soon we will have all the Haj rituals on the device as well.”
Carrier Devices has also just signed an agreement with Rotana, the largest Arabic music producer in the Middle East, giving Carrier Devices the right to use Rotana’s music content including ring tones, artist’s pictures and full songs on the Club i-mate web portal for the benefit of i-mate product owners.
“This is a great advantage to Club i-mate members who for the first time in the Middle East will be able to legally download full digital music directly to their mobile devices from a huge library of Arabic songs,” said Dawn Robson, Carrier Devices vice-president, marketing and sales. The company is committed to a long-term presence in the region. In February 2003 Carrier Devices launched the first worldwide standard accreditation and certification service for mobile applications and devices. Carrier Devices has set up service centers across the Middle East and all its products come with international warranties.
“That means if you buy a device in Dubai and you are using it in Saudi Arabia, if there’s any problem, the device can be serviced in the Kingdom,” Morrison said. “We are working with partners in the Middle East, Africa, Turkey, Greece and the Aegean, Russia, Pakistan, India, Asia Pacific and Australasia who champion our products in their market and give us the required feedback to enable us to constantly improve our products and service offerings. We are also currently producing the localization of 10 languages for both the i-mate Pocket PC Phone Edition and Smartphone devices to allow greater customization and penetration in all the markets we serve.”
Morrison emphasized that at its core Carrier Devices is all about serving its customers and local markets. He believes that this is one of the primary factors in the firm’s continuing success.
“Our staff suggests ideas for new features and we listen to all the users of our devices. When I am invited to people’s homes and all the guys are sitting around, people make suggestions. I make note of the comments and take them seriously,” said Morrison.
“We have done and will do whatever it takes to get closer to our market and we’re not just here to make a profit,” he added. “We are actively involved in the community. We are already working with charity activities in Dubai. This is good for the community and it’s good for us to because it gets us more in touch with what’s happening locally. Being a successful company is all about getting involved in the local scene and by that I mean getting involved in the life in the Middle East.”
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