Company Press Release:
O2 Surges to Pole Position in Worldwide Windows Mobile
Converged Mobile Device Market
Latest IDC findings show O2 jumped from fourth to first place in total devices shipped

Delhi, November 30, 2005 – According to the latest IDC numbers, O2 has captured a third of the worldwide Windows Mobile converged mobile device market. It shipped out more than double the number of devices in the first half of 2005 than it did in the second half of 2004. This catapults O2 from fourth to first position, making it the No. 1 vendor of Worldwide Microsoft OS-based Converged Mobile Devices in the first half of 2005 (source: IDC, September 2005). The company now holds a significant lead over HP and T-Mobile, ranked second and third respectively.

“2005 has been a banner year for O2 with several firsts being achieved in the last six months,” said Mark Billington, CEO, O2 Asia Pacific. “The resounding success of the Xda II mini, the world’s smallest PDA-phone, has been a key contributor to our continued excellent performance. It helped us capture significant market share and reach out to beyond the corporate sectors to previously untapped young and female professionals as well. This, of course, includes India, one of the fastest growing mobile handset markets in the world.”

This year, O2’s product development teams in Singapore and Hong Kong have collaborated on the design and development of a new range of applications to further simplify Smartphone and PDA-phone features for a greater plug-and-play experience. Together with pre-settings and extensive testing with operators across the region, the applications give O2 devices increased efficiency and user convenience. It not only differentiates O2 from competitors and attracts users to the brand, it makes it easy for customers in India to use the devices. This is a key initiative that is part of O2’s overall focus on customers’ needs.

“We will continue to focus on realising the O2 vision of design and technology relevance, as well as our philosophy of always putting customers at the heart of everything we do,” Billington added.

“O2 Asia Pacific has been a successful Windows Mobile partner for Microsoft having brought numerous innovative devices to the marketplace and establishing itself as a market leader in Asia Pacific,” said Jason Lim, Regional Director of Asia Pacific, Mobile and Embedded Devices Division, Microsoft Corporation. “We look forward to working with O2 to bring new devices to the market running on Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0.”


About O2 Asia Pacific
O2 Asia Pacific is a member of the O2 plc group, a leading provider of mobile communications services in Europe with nearly 25 million active mobile customers. It provides consumers throughout the Asia-Pacific region with innovative, premium mobile data devices and services that enhance everyday business solutions and lifestyle needs.

O2 Asia Pacific is headquartered in Singapore, with offices in Australia and Hong Kong; it also distributes in Malaysia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Thailand, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Vietnam and the Philippines.