Expansion on the cards for Taiwan's HTC

Pda and smartphone manufacturer HTC plans to follow-up its outing at this year's GITEX Technology Week by embarking on a rapid commercial expansion strategy across the Middle East region.

In addition to its impressive new Shift smartphone, HTC is showcasing a range of products on its stand located in Sheikh Maktoum Hall including the P3400 handset, which features GSM/GPRS roaming with Bluetooth 2.0 and Wi-Fi connectivity, a 2.8-inch LCD touch screen, QWERTY keyboard and a 2.0-megapixel camera; and the Advantage X7500 handset, which boasts an 8GB hard drive and miniSD storage options plus Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and tri-band 3G connectivity.

Vishnu Vardhan, HTC's executive director for the Middle East and North Africa, says the company is keen to expand its operations further afield in the region.

"Our company is based in Dubai but we have staff working intermittently in countries including Iran, Egypt and Saudi Arabia," he says. "In the near future, we plan to establish a permanent presence in each of these locations."

Vardhan says channel partner training programmes being run by HTC in these countries will be expanded to other countries in the region over the next six months."GITEX Technology Week provides a fantastic platform to launch new products in the Middle East," he says. "Our new products, led by the Shift mobile computer, have attracted plenty of interest from delegates this week and we expect them to attract a similar buzz in the region's consumer markets.

"The show also provides a great opportunity for us to demonstrate our commitment to customising the Windows Mobile operating system for Arab customers."